Project Profile
Location: Northern Carnarvon Basin, located 100km from Western Australia.
Gas reserves: 209bcf and 584bcf
Water Depth: 285m
Start-up Year: 2014
Block WA-290-P is found in Northwestern Australia, 70 km west of Barrow Island and 27 km west of the Woollybutt oil field. The block contains the Zola prospect, Lauda prospect and undeveloped Antiope field.
Zola prospect
Zola Prospect is a gas discovery in the Carnarvon Basin, located 100km from Western Australia. It lies in the WA-290-P permit south of the Gorgon gas field. The permit spans 482km2 in 200m of water. Zola is expected to be one of the biggest explored prospects in the Carnarvon Basin. The offshore basin covers 535,000km2 with water depths of up to 3,500 m .
Zola was discovered by the Zola-1 discovery well in April 2011. Drilling of the well started in December 2010 by the Stena Clyde semi-submersible drilling rig. The well was drilled to a depth of 1,312ft in 935ft of water. It encountered more than 328ft of net gas in three gas bearing sand packages of the Mungaroo formation. The Zola prospect is part of a collection of fault blocks known as the greater Zola structure.
An independent evaluation report prepared by RPS Energy Services has indicated mean prospective resources of the Greater Zola Structure to be 2.3 trillion cubic feet. Mean contingent resources of the prospect are estimated to be 378 billion cubic feet (bcf). The reserves are estimated to range between 209bcf and 584bcf. The current estimates are based on the drilling activities carried out at the Triassic tilted fault block. Results of the Zola-1 well indicate that carbon dioxide in the gas reserves content increases with depth. Carbon dioxide and inerts content is estimated to range between 20% and 30% in nearly 90% of the mean contingent resource.
Field development
Following the discovery by Zola-1 well, a new 3-D seismic survey was carried out at the permit in June 2011. Evaluation of the data from the seismic survey is scheduled for completion in May 2012. Further appraisal and exploration drilling will commence in 2012. Several options are being examined for the development of the prospect. The existing infrastructure near the prospect may be used for development.
Operators:
Macquarie Capital & Brookfield Asset Management: Operator with 30.25 % interest
Santos Offshore: 24.75% interest
OMV Australia: 20 % interest
Nippon Oil Exploration: 15 % interest
TapOil: 10 % interest
Contractors:
Diamond Offshore: Drilling semi-submersible drilling rig Ocean America
Stena Clyde: Drilling contractor
RPS Energy Services: Resource estimate