Woodside Petroleum has temporarily shut down operations at the Pluto LNG project in Western Australia’s offshore Carnarvon Basin after a drilling rig drifted close to gas flowlines.

In a short statement to the market this morning, Woodside advised it took the precautionary measure after the rig, which had been contracted to another party, became loose.

“Underwater inspections have confirmed the integrity of the flowlines,” Woodside said.

Production will be restarted when the rig has been relocated away from Pluto infrastructure.

According to reports, the drilling rig had been drilling at a field at Chevron's Wheatstone LNG project and had been secured ahead of cyclone Olwyn, but later broke free from its mooring lines.

It’s understood the rig, owned by Atwood Oceanics, suffered minimal damage but will need to undergo repairs.

Woodside will provide further advice on the recommencement of production in due course.

In January, Woodside forecasted 2015 production would be between 85 MMboe to 91 MMboe.

While it is unclear if this incident will materially impact on guidance, Woodside has already foreshadowed a planned one-month shutdown of its Pluto project for this year which has been factored into the production guidance.