Hardy Oil and Gas says that on July 5, 2009, the PY-3 field was shut down due to unscheduled repair and maintenance of the offshore mooring facility.

Adverse marine conditions have frustrated efforts of the contractor to assess and undertake necessary repairs to commence production. The contractor is making all efforts to mobilize resources and carry out repairs as soon as possible.

Hardy is the operator of the PY-3 field and holds an 18% participating interest.

About PY-3 Field

The PY-3 field is located off the East Coast of India 80 km south of Pondicherry in water depths of between 40 m and 400 m. The Cauvery basin was developed in the late Jurassic/early Cretaceous period and straddles the present-day east coast of India.

The license, which covers 81 km2, produces oil of high quality light crude (49° API). The field was developed using floating production facilities and subsea wellheads, a first for an offshore field in India.

The facility at PY-3 consists of the floating production unit, 'Tahara,' and a 65,000 DWT tanker, 'Endeavor,' which acts as a floating storage and offloading unit. There are four sub-sea wells tied back to Tahara. Tahara has a three-stage crude oil separation system, with the first two stages being three-phase separators and the third stage a two-phase separator. Actual liquid processing capacity on Tahara is 20,000 stbd with 17 MMscfd of gas handling capacity.

The field currently produces associated gas in the range of 3.5 MMscfd. This produced gas is used as fuel gas with excess gas being flared. The stabilised crude oil is pumped from Tahara to Endeavor for storage and offloading to shuttle tankers. Crude oil from the PY-3 field is sold to CPCL at its refinery in Nagapattinam, approximately 70 km south of the PY-3 field.

Tags: Hardy Oil and Gas