Triangle Energy has just stood down their Incident Management Team (IMT) after announcing they followed the requirements for their Oil Pollution Emergency Plan (OPEP) and conducted various safety and environmental assessments.

This news comes after the recent interruption to production at the Cliff Head Alpha Offshore Platform due to a Level 1, low level, oil spill which occurred on Tuesday 24 July. The Cliff Head Offshore Platform is located approximately 14 kilometres offshore in the Perth Basin, 300 kilometres north of Perth.

Triangle Energy’s Managing Director, Mr Rob Towner, confirmed today’s announcement, stating that the company’s IMT followed strict policies and procedures within its OPEP. After satisfying safety and environmental requirements and finding no evidence of hydrocarbons in the marine environment, the decision to have the IMT stood down was made late Friday afternoon.

“Based on our satellite tracking buoy data, trajectory modelling, and in conjunction with the Department of Transport, multiple teams of trained personnel were deployed to cover approximately 20 kilometres of shoreline on foot,” Mr Towner explained, “in addition, multiple aerial surveillance flights covered the ocean and shoreline.”

The company has announced that after extensive monitoring, no observations of hydrocarbons were sighted.

“This reaffirms Triangle’s belief that the vast majority of produced fluid remained on the platform itself and any amount which entered the marine environment was negligible and most likely dispersed naturally in the rough seas,” commented Mr Towner.

At present, production at Cliff Head remains shut-in whilst the appropriate preparations are completed for a restart. Triangle will continue to collaborate with Regulatory Authorities and monitor and assess the situation while also focusing on operational tasks to bring the incident to a close.

In June 2016 Triangle acquired 57.5 per cent interest in Cliff Head, including the Arrowsmith onshore oil processing plant, from AWE Limited. The development cost of the field was approximately A$327 million with first oil production having commenced in May 2006. To-date the field has produced over 14.8 million barrels.

More information on the Cliff Head project can be accessed here.