Subsea 7 has completed laying the 65-kilometre subsea pipeline at Cooper Energy’s Sole gas development off Victoria, Australia, but problems have been found during testing.

Cooper revealed this week an acceptance pressure test found an anomaly which prevented the pipeline from holding internal pressure.

It added Subsea 7 had identified a through wall thickness opening in the pipeline which had been observed in the pipe itself and not at a weld.

The contractor is now assessing the damage and developing a plan for repairs, after which more testing will be carried out before the pipeline is connected to the Sole production wells.

Cooper noted that the time needed for the repair was not expected to affect the date of first commercial gas sales, which are still planned for July next year.

The 65-kilometre subsea pipeline will connect Sole’s two production wells to the onshore Orbost gas plant.

Cooper holds a 100% interest in the Sole development which is expected to deliver gas sales of 4 million barrels of oil equivalent per annum.

Roughly 75% of the field’s reserves have already been contracted to a range of utility and industrial customers including AGL Energy, EnergyAustralia, Alinta Energy and O-I.

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Sole gas pipeline setback