Project Profile
Value: Undisclosed
Location: Western Cooper Wet Gas Fairway, Cooper Basin, Australia
Area: approx. 1,500 sq km
Start-up Year: -
Drillsearch has been awarded by the Government of South Australia a major new exploration permit - Block B (PEL 513) - through the 2009 Cooper Basin Acreage Release competitive bid round. This block covers approximately 1,500km2 on the Western Flank of the South Australian Cooper Basin and incorporates exploration acreage adjacent to Drillsearch\'s PEL 91, PEL 106 and PEL 107 permit areas.
PEL 513 contains significant acreage that was previously contained within the Santos-operated South Australian Cooper Basin Joint Venture production license areas. These areas include most of the Production License area covering the Welcome Lake East wet gas field that is located within Drillsearch\'s PEL106 exploration permit. Most significantly, a major production license release area covering the entire south western flank of the giant Moomba gas field. In the southern portion it contains production license relinquishment areas from the Caladan and Wirrarie North gas fields. The northern portion of PEL 513 is adjacent to the Fly Lake, Tirrawarra, Callabonna and Charo oil fields and the Merrimelia, Leleptian and Varanus wet gas fields.
Drillsearch Energy Limited has made a new wet gas discovery on the Western Cooper Wet Gas Fairway of the Cooper Basin. The Varanus South-1 well in PEL 513 is the first well to be drilled by Santos and Drillsearch under the joint venture between the companies announced in July 2013. Varanus South-1 was drilled to a total depth of 3,154 metres as a near-field exploration well. Drillsearch’s preliminary interpretation of wireline logs has confirmed an aggregate best estimate of 18 metres of net gas pay over a gross interval of 365 metres in the Patchawarra Formation and an additional 9 metres of net hydrocarbon pay over a gross interval of 37 metres in the Tirrawarra Formation, which was considered a secondary target. As a result, the well has been cased and suspended as a future wet gas producer. Interpretation of the well results is continuing. Varanus South-1 is located 2.1km southeast of the Varanus field, which produces wet gas from the Patchawarra Formation, and 1.8km north of the Cooba field and 9.8km southwest of the Tirrawarra field, which both produce wet gas from the Patchawarra Formation and oil from the Tirrawarra Formation.
Operators:
Santos: Operator with 60% interest
Beach Energy (previously Drillsearch Energy Limited): 40% interest