CaneTalk: Cyclone Threatens to Form off Australia's West; PTTEP Evacuates Workers

Cyclone Threatens to Form off Australia's West; PTTEP Evacuates Workers

Posted by JAC on 12/12/2009, 9:50 pm

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- PTT Exploration & Production Pcl's has begun evacuating workers from a well head platform off northwestern Australia as the region's oil and gas operations brace for the first tropical cyclone of the season.

A low-pressure system, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) west- southwest of Darwin and moving southwest at 11 kilometers an hour, may develop into a cyclone today, the weather bureau said on its Web site. PTTEP has begun evacuations from the Montara site in the Timor Sea, spokesman Errol Considine said by phone today. Representatives of Woodside Petroleum Ltd., which also operates in the area, couldn't be reached for comment.

Australia's northwest, location of most of the country's oil and gas production, may experience six cyclones this season, according to an October forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology. The tropical low may develop into a cyclone by 10 p.m. local time, the bureau said. A cyclone watch has been issued for coastal areas from Mitchell Plateau to Wyndham in Western Australia.

Australia's northwest typically has an average of five tropical cyclones each season, which runs from November until April.

BHP, Woodside and Santos Ltd., Australia's three biggest oil and gas producers, were among companies that halted production at offshore oil fields last season because of cyclones, including Dominic and Billy.

Cyclone George in March 2007 caused flooding at Energy Resources of Australia Ltd.'s Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory. The same storm killed two workers and injured another 16 at Fortescue Metals Group Ltd.'s iron ore operation in Western Australia.

Cyclone Tracy was one of the worst natural disasters in Australia's history, according to the government's Emergency Management Authority. The storm on Christmas Day, 1974, killed 71 people and forced 35,362 out of a population of 47,000 to flee, marking the nation's biggest peacetime evacuation.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rebecca Keenan in Melbourne at rkeenan5(at)bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 11, 2009 22:48 EST

In this thread:

Cyclone season has not... - hanna, 12/12/2009, 1:00 pm

Cyclone Threatens to Form off Australia's West; PTTEP Evacuates Workers - JAC, 12/12/2009, 9:50 pm
- Relocated - Maybe Cat1 at Landfall - JAC, 12/14/2009, 7:06 am
- Cyclone alert for northwest Australia - JAC, 12/13/2009, 2:07 pm
- Darwin drenched by Cyclone Laurence - JAC, 12/13/2009, 12:21 pm
- Tropical Cyclone Laurence - JAC, 12/12/2009, 9:57 pm
  - Offical Forecast may be Underestimated - JAC, 12/13/2009, 11:01 am
    - Firing Numerous Hot Towers - JAC, 12/13/2009, 1:36 pm
      - Tower Firing for 2hrs + - JAC, 12/13/2009, 2:03 pm
      - Very Impressive Flare-Up - JAC, 12/13/2009, 1:50 pm
  - Textbook Core - JAC, 12/13/2009, 2:57 am
  - Re: Tropical Cyclone Laurence - JAC, 12/12/2009, 10:05 pm
  - Great UL Support - JAC, 12/12/2009, 10:01 pm

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