Beach Energy Provides March Drilling Report, Australia

Australia’s Beach Energy has released its monthly drilling report for March 2013.

Operated Cooper Basin Unconventional Gas Program

PEL 218 (Beach 100%)

Dashwood-1, the sixth well in the current vertical exploration program in PEL 218 of up to eight wells, is drilling ahead in the Nappamerri Group at 2,533 metres.

The first horizontal well, Holdfast-2, has been cased and suspended after penetrating approximately 700 metres of the Murteree Shale, of which almost 600 metres constituted the horizontal section of the well. Holdfast-2 has the largest step-out from the surface location of any Cooper Basin horizontal well to date at 988 metres which represents a significant achievement for the first well of its type in this unconventional program. The well design of the next horizontal well, Encounter-2, is currently under review and will incorporate improved understandings from the drilling of Holdfast-2.

The horizontal section will be fracture stimulated as part of the next batch stimulation phase. The optimal number of stages for this lateral is currently being assessed.

ATP 855P (Beach 60%)

The flowback of the Halifax-1 well was initially choked back due to temperature constraints on surface equipment. After two weeks of flowing back gas and stimulation fluid, a rate of 4.2 MMscfd was recorded. Due to heavy localised rains, the well was shut-in early March and choked back for the major part of the month. Currently the well is flowing unconstrained at a rate of 1.8 MMscf/d.

Santos Operated Cooper Basin Oil and Gas Exploration and Development

The gas development program in the Baryulah field in Queensland (Beach 23.20%) has been completed, with the final well, Baryulah-14, cased and suspended for future production. The rig has now moved to drill the Lepard-2 gas development well, which is currently preparing to drill ahead having set surface casing.

On the South Australian side of the Cooper Basin (Beach 20.21%), the Burke-12 and Goyder-6 wells were cased and suspended as future gas producers, while Cowralli-22 is drilling ahead toward a Patchawarra development target. Cowralli-22 is the first of sixteen development wells planned for the Cowralli field that will use deviated drilling from a single multi-well surface pad. This is designed to pioneer engineering and cost savings in this area.

The Achilles-1 oil exploration well (Beach 30%) was plugged and abandoned after failing to intersect hydrocarbons.

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LNG World News Staff, April 03, 2013; Image: Beach Energy