Doing it together: how our Asia Pacific team responded to a subsea incident 

A complex and intricate world operates beneath our offshore natural gas production platforms and this subsea infrastructure is critically important to the safety and continuity of our offshore operations. This is particularly true for our subsea production control umbilical, which provides control functions, data and communications between our offshore platforms and the gas fields. Damage to an umbilical could have a serious impact on the safety, production and operational integrity of our operations. And that’s why our Asia Pacific team – and their response to an umbilical incident – has been recognized with a President’s Award for exemplifying our purpose and values. 

In April 2023, an unidentified vessel’s underwater equipment snagged a production control umbilical for the LH29-1 gas field – one of several as part of the Liwan Gas Project in our Asia Pacific operations. The incident triggered our automated emergency shutdown protocols, stopping production and preventing any gas release to the environment. Our team in the region immediately jumped into action to pull together a group of multidisciplinary subject matter experts to assess the damage and begin mapping out the repair of the equipment located 530 metres below the surface of the ocean. Five separate offshore vessels were mobilized to support the incident investigation and conduct the required repairs. It was a collaborative effort, requiring inputs from the entire Cenovus Liwan Operations team, as well as the project partner, CNOOC, and third-party contractors. The result was a safe return to full production of the LH29-1 gas field in less than 60 days of the incident - a world-class result for a complex offshore operating environment. 

The response team’s exemplary work earned them a Cenovus President’s Award for exemplifying our value of Do it together. It’s the highest form of staff recognition we have at Cenovus, acknowledging teams and individuals who demonstrate our values and the best of Cenovus through their everyday actions and behaviours. 

Hear more about the response and the team’s efforts from Tony Li, the production operation Director for the Liwan Gas Project and Tracy Mosness, Vice-President, Production and Development, Asia Pacific.