Location of Enterprise field; Source: Beach Energy

Beach reveals size of Otway basin discovery off Australia

Australian oil and gas company Beach Energy has announced reserves in the nearshore Enterprise gas field located in the Victorian Otway Basin offshore Australia.

Location of Enterprise field; Source: Beach Energy

Beach Energy said that the Enterprise-1 well discovery led to a 2P reserves booking for the field of 21 mmboe (34 mmboe gross) as of 15 February 2021.

The 2P reserves include 97 PJ of sales gas (161 PJ gross), 211 ktonnes of LPG (352 ktonnes gross), and 2 mmbbls (4 mmbbls gross) of condensate, at an initial gas-condensate yield of around 25 bbls/mmscf above pre-drill expectations.

The reserves estimate includes an allowance for expected reductions in condensate yield as the reservoir depletes. Detailed results of the well and test results have been previously announced.

Beach Energy managing director and CEO Matt Kay said the reserves booking for the Enterprise field was a fantastic achievement for Beach, with results ahead of its pre-drill expectations.

The material Enterprise discovery helps to ensure a continued pipeline of gas to the Otway Gas Plant – a key supplier to the East Coast gas market. The liquids content in the field is more than double our pre-drill expectation, significantly increasing the value of the discovery.

Ultimately, Beach’s investment in the region with our joint venture participant is helping to meet the shortfall in supply that is forecast for the East Coast gas market in the near future, as well as providing an economic boost to the region and creating jobs through the supply chain”.

Beach announced a five-year production target of more than 37 mmboe in fiscal year 2025 at its full-year 2020 results in August 2020. This target assumed a single exploration success in the Otway exploration drilling campaign, which has now been realised from the first exploration well in the program.

Beach plans to commence FEED activities during the second half of fiscal year 2021 and will target a final investment decision during fiscal year 2022. The forward plan is to tie-back to the Otway Gas Plant with a target of first gas in the first half of fiscal year 2023.

Beach also plans to investigate further exploration opportunities identified in the vicinity of the Enterprise gas field, with plans to utilise the existing Enterprise-1 drill pad, which have been de-risked by the Enterprise success.

As for the Enterprise field, it is located in the VIC/P42(V) license. Beach is the operator of the license with a 60 per cent interest and O.G. Energy is its partner with the remaining 40 per cent interest.

Beach Energy made the discovery with the Enterprise-1 well spud from an onshore location, 3.5 km from Port Campbell and 8 kilometres from the Otway Gas Plant. The well was drilled directionally using an extended reach drilling approach to deliver a well with a 3.2-kilometre step-out, to target a location within the offshore permit.

The well intersected a 146-metre gas column in the Upper Waarre Formation, including 115 metres of net gas pay with no gas-water contact identified.