The 5000-barrel-per-day field has been offline since early January, while operator Eni addressed problems experienced during an emergency shutdown of equipment in response to a cyclone in northwest Australia.
On February 17, the joint venture disconnected and sailed the Four Vanguard floating, production storage and offtake vessel away from the field due to the arrival of Cyclone Nicholas.
Output was due to restart around now, but Tap advised the market yesterday that limited support vessel availability and the arrival of Cyclone Ophelia in the region earlier this month would push back the start date for about another two weeks.
"Tap strongly supports the steps taken in conducting all necessary activities to ensure the safe and compliant recommencement of production," Tap Oil said.
"This event does not impact the reserves of the field, as production is only deferred for the period of the shutdown."
Tropical Cyclone Ophelia, which moved into the offshore Carnarvon Basin in early March and has since dissipated, also caused BHP Billiton to temporarily shut down production at its Griffin oil field for several days.
Woollybutt is in permit WA-25-L about 40km west of Barrow Island
