Australia: Beach Energy Provides October Drilling Report

Australia’s Beach Energy has released monthly drilling report for October 2012.

Operated Cooper Basin Unconventional Gas Program

The ten-stage stimulation of Moonta-1 in PEL-218 (Beach 100%) is underway, with five of the stages completed at the time of reporting. Nine of the planned stages target the basin-centred gas play within the Patchawarra Formation and the upper most stage will address the Murteree Shale.

The stimulation program in Moonta-1 will be followed by a similar program in Streaky-1 in the second half of November. Flow testing of Moonta-1 is expected to commence in mid-November and continue for several weeks.

The remaining Permian targets are planned to be assessed in subsequent stimulation and flow testing activities in the new year.

Two vertical exploration wells are currently drilling within PEL-218 (Beach 100%). Marble-1, the fifth vertical exploration well in PEL 218 (Beach 100%), is preparing to drill ahead, have set intermediate casing in the lower Nappamerri Formation. This well is expected to reach total depth in early December. A second well, Boston-1, spudded in early November, will further evaluate the shale and basin-centred gas potential in the REM and

Patchawarra Formation in the southern portion of the permit. A third well, Gaschnitz-1 was spudded by the Cooper Basin JV. In ATP 855P (Beach 60%), drilling of the Halifax-1 vertical exploration well was completed to a total depth of 4,267 metres.

Halifax-1 is located approximately 12 kilometres northeast of Encounter-1 in the Queensland portion of the Nappamerri Trough. Subject to approvals Beach is planning to stimulate Halifax-1 once activities have been completed at Moonta-1 and Streaky-1 (both PEL-218).

Santos Operated Cooper Basin Oil and Gas Development

Gas development drilling continued with two wells having been cased and suspended during the month. Waukatanna-5 (Beach 20.21%) was cased and suspended for future production after intersecting gas in several sands within the Patchawarra Formation 30 kilometres SSW from the Moomba Gas Plant.

Approximately 85 kilometres north from Moomba, a second rig drilled and cased Moolion-6, after intersecting gas as expected, and is currently drilling Moolion-5. The Moolion Field (Beach 17.14%) is being developed for gas in the Toolachee, Epsilon and Patchawarra Formations. Unconventional gas exploration drilling has commenced with the spudding of the Gaschnitz-1 well in PPL-101 (Beach 20.21%) approximately 30 kilometres north of the Moomba gas plant.

In Queensland, oil drilling has continued; firstly at Irtalie East-3 (Beach 38.5%) and then at Zeus-4 (Beach 30%), both of which were cased and suspended as future Birkhead/Hutton oil producers. A further oil development well, Zeus-5, is currently drilling ahead.

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LNG World News Staff, November 7, 2012; Image: Beach Energy