Singapore (Platts)--16Sep2009/241 am EDT/641 GMT

The startup of the Montara field in the Timor Sea will be delayed following the August 21 oil spill from a development well at the field, a spokewoman with PTTEP Australasia, a subsidiary of Thailand's state-run PTT Exploration and Production, said Wednesday.

"There will be a slight delay," the spokeswoman said, but could not give more details. "The situation is currently being assessed," she said.

The Montara field was originally scheduled to start producing 35,000-40,000 b/d of sweet, light crude in the fourth quarter of this year and was expected to contribute to PTTEP's 2009 sales target of 234,878 barrels of oil equivalent/day, the company had said in March.

Meanwhile, the company began drilling a relief well to stop the Montara leak on September 14 and expects to plug the leak by early October, the spokeswoman said. She, however, could not say how much oil was still flowing out from the well.

PTTEP had earlier informed the Australian Maritime Safety Authority that the spill rate was around 400 b/d. "Observations have indicated that the flow rate has slowed, but we don't have an exact figure," she said.

AMSA too in a statement September 15 said that the amount of fresh oil had substantially decreased over recent days.

The Montara project incorporates the Montara, Swift and Skua fields in the Ashmore Cartier permit area of the Timor Sea, within the AC/L7 and AC/L8 production licences. PTTEP acquired the project as part of its acquisition of Australia's Coogee Resources in December last year. --Mriganka Jaipuriyar, mriganka@platts.com