Woodside Petroleum has restarted its massive Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant after a drifting oil rig came within five hundred metres of critical gas lines.
The energy giant halted production at Pluto in north Western Australia after the Atwood Osprey semi-submersible drilling rig was knocked loose during Cyclone Olwyn on Thursday last week.
The Atwood Osprey, which is operated by Atwood Oceanics and contracted to Chevron, drifted around five kilometres to an area within Woodside's 500 metre exclusion zone, forcing the oil and gas producer to halt production.
Woodside said the interruption had not changed the company's 2015 production target range of 84 million to 91 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Atwood Oceanics said the drill rig had later moved to an area clear of the exclusion zone.
"Rig repairs are planned to take place in protected waters close to Dampier," Atwood said in a statement on Friday.
It is inspecting the rig with regulators and says there is no evidence of damage to the hull or pontoon.
Woodside's Pluto and North West Shelf operations are responsible for the majority of the company's LNG production.
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