Project Profile
Value: Undisclosed
Location: Northern Territory\'s Amadeus Basin, 152 mi (245 km) west-southwest of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, and 62 mi (100 km) west of the Palm Valley gas field, Australia
Reserves: 186 million barrels MMBO (initially)
Production: 280 PJ
Area: 47 mi2 (122 km2)
Start-up Year: 2016
The Mereenie oil and gas field is located in the central Amadeus basin in Australia\'s arid heartland. It lies 152 mi (245 km) west-southwest of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, and 62 mi (100 km) west of the Palm Valley gas field—the only other currently producing field in the basin. Total areal extent of the field exceeds 47 mi2 (122 km2). The field is operated by Australian Gas Light Petroleum (AGLP) Limited for the Mereenie Joint Venture. Mereenie had initially estimated to hold the largest in-place oil reserves (186 million barrels, MMBO) of any Australian mainland oil field. Ultimate recovery was estimated at up to 34 MMBO and 593 bcf of gas. It has produced more than 16 million barrels of oil and condensate since 1984. The expansion is set to extend the life of the field to 2030. The Mereenie program will target oil while also evaluating natural gas resources and it is expected the field will have an oil and natural gas production life-span of 17 years.
In June 2015, Central Petroleum Limited has agreed to acquire a 50% interest in the Mereenie Oil & Gas Field from Santos Limited and assume Operatorship of the field in the Northern Territory\'s Amadeus Basin. Under the agreement Central paid US$45 million in cash to Santos, structured as US$35 million on financial closure of the deal and the balance of US$10 million paid in June 2016. Central has engaged Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc. (NSAI) to review existing data in the light of the prospect of NEGI going ahead and the Company remains confident that the review together with workovers should enable the target of 280 PJ to be reached. The work will also identify a series of gas target zones for reserve and resource additions.
The 30-day production testing of the West Mereenie-15 (WM15) well ended on 22/06/2016. It yielded around 1.5 million cubic feet per day of gas, with low nitrogen content of 2.6%, far below Australia’s East Coast gas specification, recorded. (June, 2016)
Operators:
Central Petroleum Limited: Operator with 50% interest
Macquarie Mereenie Pty Ltd (subsidiary of Macquarie Group): 50% interest
Contractors:
Netherland, Sewell & Associates, Inc. (NSAI): Reserves estimation studies