Mimia may be Ichthys tieback

Total has reported a new gas find during drilling offshore northwest Australia with its Mimia 1 well in the WA 344 P permit area which it acquired in November last year which is near the giant Ichthys discovery.

Operated by Total E&P Australia, drilling on the Mimia 1 well completed in July and the company said a 72 m (236 ft) gas column has been encountered.

Production testing confirmed a gas and condensate field and the find lies 20 km (12.5 miles) northeast of the WA285 P permit area operated by Inpex with 76% where Total holds 24% equity, and which contains the Ichthys gas and condensate field which is thought to contain around 13 Tcf of recoverable gas and 530 m bbl of recoverable liquids.

Ichthys is due to be tapped with a new LNG-based development which is due to come onstream around 2015.

“Inpex and Total are preparing the development of the Ichthys field and are considering how the Mimia discovery could best be incorporated into this development,” the Paris-headquartered group stated.

Also the find confirms the hydrocarbon potential of the Browse Basin offshore Australia, Total indicated.