Oil vessel prepares to leave Taranaki over hefty unpaid bill owed by Tamarind Resources

The Umuroa has been producing oil from the Tui oil fields, offshore of Taranaki, since 2007 however its owners say they are preparing to leave because of unpaid bills. Photo / supplied.

The owners of a vessel which has collected oil from a Taranaki oil field for more than a decade are preparing to leave as the company pursues a hefty unpaid bill.

BW Offshore said it "has started preparations for disconnection and demobilisation" of the Umuroa, a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility which has gathered oil from the Tui oilfields since 2007.

The Tui fields are owned and operated by Tamarind Resources, a Malaysian oil and gas company which warned this month that one of its New Zealand subsidiaries, Tamarind Taranaki, may be insolvent.

A creditors meeting in New Plymouth last week heard the company had debts of close to $200 million although the administrators have not named a figure.

With a clean up of the ageing fields looming, the troubles of Tamarind Taranaki have raised the prospect that the clean up costs when the field is decommissioned could fall on the Government.

Although Tamarind Taranaki's parent company has a guarantee to the Crown to cover the decommissioning costs, it is unknown whether the company can cover the payment.

Industry sources have said the cost of abandoning and cleaning up the wells could cost in excess of $100 million, although part of the cost (42 per cent) would effectively fall on the Crown in any case.

In a statement to the Oslo Stock Exchange, BW Offshore said it had made a provision to write off US$10 million ($15.6m) for the three months to September 30, but warned the total exposure to its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation could be US$23m ($35.8m).

"The assessment identified uncertainties related to payment of outstanding overdue hire and payment of future hire until the termination."

Jason Kardachi from administrator Borrelli Walsh has declined to comment on BW Offshore's plans, describing negotiations as "ongoing".

Since he was appointed Kardachi has been attempting to secure the support of Tamarind's key suppliers to try to secure continued production in the short term.

On Tuesday Kardachi said that discussions were "continuing on a relatively positive note and I hope to have agreement by the end of this week".

If support cannot be secured he has warned Tamarind Taranaki would have to be placed in liquidation.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, which administers the manages the Government's petroleum and minerals interests, has refused to comment on its exposure to Tamarind or its position on whether it continues its continued operations.

Kardachi said on November 20 that it was "very unlikely" that the Crown would withdraw support in the short term.

"We're in active dialogue with the Crown in relation to that and it's in their interests for us to continue what we're doing," he said.

"We're working with them and have their support at the moment."