3 Mar 2024

Decommissioning of abandoned Tui Oil Field complete

6:03 pm on 3 March 2024
The Q7000 Heavy Well Intervention vessel will plug and formally abandon wells across Tui Oil Field as part of the decommissioning project.

The Q7000 Heavy Well Intervention vessel (pictured) was used to plug and formally abandon wells across Tui Oil Field as part of the decommissioning project. Photo: Supplied / MBIE

The last of the ill-fated Tui Oil Field's subsea infrastructure has been removed and returned to shore, bringing to a close its decommissioning.

The Tui field was deserted in 2019 after the financial collapse of Tamarind Taranaki, leaving the Crown with a $300 million bill for its safe decommissioning.

The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment set up the Tui Project to oversee the process in 2020.

It said there has been a huge effort behind the scenes to make it safe, and removed about 700 tonnes of infrastructure from the subsea environment.

Attention now turns to post-decommissioning environmental monitoring.