Australia: Comet Ridge Updates on Mahalo Block Pilot Schemes

Comet Ridge provided a further operational update subsequent to its announcements of 20 and 27 November 2013, for the Mahalo Pilot Scheme, in the Mahalo Block, part of ATP 337P.

The Mahalo Block is located approximately 240 km west of Gladstone in central Queensland.

Following a safety incident which occurred in November, the Operator, Santos QNT, halted stimulation operations on the Mahalo 3 well while a detailed safety investigation was carried out.

The operator has recently advised, that notwithstanding the expected imminent return to work, the operator now requires additional rig equipment to ensure the safety and integrity of the stimulation operations. This equipment will take up to two weeks to arrive, and subsequently the rig will move off to drill a non Mahalo Block well further south, before returning to Mahalo 3. With the restrictions on movement of large loads on Queensland roads that apply over the Christmas holiday period, it is not expected that the rig will return to the Mahalo Block until early in January when the travel restrictions have been lifted.

The Joint Venture equity participants in ATP 337P Mahalo Block are Comet Ridge Mahalo 35%, Stanwell Corporation Limited 5%, Australia Pacific LNG 30% and Santos QNT 30%.

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LNG World News Staff, December 09, 2013; Image: Comet Ridge