After receiving a notice of contract termination from Woodside for the FPSO Armada Claire on March 4, the plot has thickened with Bumi Armada serving a counter notice to Woodside.
Bumi Armada’s subsidiary Armada Balnaves sent the notice of termination to Woodside on Friday, March 11.
The company stated that Woodside, by issuing the notice of termination on March 4 and its subsequent conduct, evinced, and continued to evince, an intention to no longer be bound by the terms of the contract.
According to the parent company, this amounted to a repudiation of the contract which entitled Armada Balnaves to terminate it. Armada Balnaves reserves the right to claim damages against Woodside for its breach of the contract, Bumi Armada added.
To remind, Armada Balnaves signed the contract with Apache Energy for the provision of a floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO) for the Balnaves field, in September 2011.
The contract was for an initial fixed term charter of 4 years expiring in August 2018, with options for 4 annual extensions. At the time of the award, the contract was valued at approximately Ringgit Malaysia 1.46 billion ($357.5M).
According to the deal, the Armada Claire has been operating in the Balnaves Field off Australia since delivering first oil in August 2014.
After Woodside bought Apache’s 65% interest in the Balnaves field in April 2015, the contract was novated to Woodside in May 2015.
Offshore Energy Today Staff