Offshore regulator orders Cliff Head oil platform operator to keep it safe after would-be buyer collapses

An administrator has been appointed to two subsidiaries of Triangle Energy as troubles over an an oil platform off the Mid West coast widen. Bryan Hughes was put in control of Triangle Energy Onshore Pty Ltd and Triangle Energy Offshore Pty Ltd, according to a notice published by the corporate regulator this afternoon. Both are subsidiaries of ASX-listed Triangle Energy Global. It comes just days after Pilot Energy — which wanted to buy the Cliff Head oil platform from Triangle — appointed administrators from Cor Cordis, sparking fears about a whopping clean-up bill similar to the Northern Endeavour failure. The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority ordered Triangle on Thursday night to maintain the mothballed facility. In a direction notice issued to Triangle, regulators said the appointment of administrators to Pilot “creates uncertainty about the continuity of support functions for offshore facilities”. Pilot’s administrators had told the regulator that a funding request for operational wage requirements had been declined. NOPSEMA made the order to ensure the titleholders “do not lose the operational capability necessary to safely monitor and manage the Cliff Head offshore facilities and wells during the administration period”. “The direction requires the registered holders to retain or maintain essential personnel, critical contracts, access, data, records, power, monitoring, communications and Arrowsmith onshore facility support arrangements necessary for the continued safe management of the facilities,” the regulator said. “The direction is justified because the administration process may involve reviews of expenditure, staffing, contractual commitments and asset management arrangements. “Without clear requirements, there is a risk that cost-reduction or restructuring decisions could result in the loss of critical personnel, contracts or services needed to detect deteriorating conditions, manage integrity threats or respond to abnormal conditions.” The notice pointed out that breaching the direction was an offence, with consequences ranging from hefty fines to five years’ imprisonment for individuals. A spokeswoman for the regulator told The West Australian “we have received no confirmation that the general directions will be complied with, noting this is an evolving situation.” Triangle Energy has planned since 2024 to offload its 79 per cent stake in the Cliff Head oil field to joint venture partner and fellow minnow Pilot, which pocketed millions from a Federal Government grant to help turn it into a carbon capture and storage facility. But the proposal never eventuated and Pilot, with a market value of $6.7 million, went belly up earlier this week. Both companies are now suspended from trading on the Australian Securities Exchange. Triangle — which entered a trading halt on the news and had a value of merely $2.2m — said on Thursday it was seeking advice and asked to be suspended from trade until July 21 or until it made an announcement. Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King, who approved the grant, said on Thursday that “under no circumstances” would taxpayers be left on the hook for decommissioning Cliff Head. She said that if Pilot and Triangle could not pay for it, she would “have no hesitation in extending the Northern Endeavour levy or taking other measures to cover all costs”. The industry was left fuming in 2022 after the Commonwealth slapped the 48¢-a-barrel levy on it to cover decommissioning costs for the dilapidated Northern Endeavour facility in the Timor Sea, which Woodside had sold to a junior company that later collapsed. The levy has so far raised $1.15 billion. Earlier this week, the Federal Department of Industry, Science and Resources would not be drawn on estimates the clean up bill for Cliff Head could be $200 million. At a junior explorer’s conference in Perth in 2024, Triangle said the sale of its stake in Cliff Head would “remove” its “abandonment liability, leaving clear air to pursue growth opportunities”, including in the Philippines.