Beach Energy Ltd., Adelaide, completed its seven-well offshore Victorian-Tasmanian Otway basin campaign that began in February 2021.
The final well, Thylacine North-2, was completed this month.
The program provided a new gas discovery in the Artisan prospect along with six successful development wells—four on Thylacine gas field and two on Geographe gas field.
Maximum tested flow rates in the two producing fields averaged 61 MMcfd of gas.
Three of the wells were drilled horizontally in the gas reservoirs and achieved a total lateral section of 8.1 km. Of these, Thylacine North-2, with a lateral section of 3.5 km, is the longest horizontal well ever drilled in the basin.
The two Geographe wells (G-4, G-5) were brought on stream less than 9 months from spud date. Pipeline connections and tie-ins of the four Thylacine wells are scheduled to begin early 2023.
The Artisan discovery in March 2021 found a net gas pay of 67 m and is now undergoing pre-FEED evaluation.
Completion of the campaign is a key milestone in delivering Beach’s production target of 28 MMboe during the 2024 financial year, said Morné Engelbrecht, chief executive officer.
Commissioning of the two Geographe wells contributed to an increase in the onshore Otway gas plant average daily production to 140 terajoules/day in 2022 from 53 terajoules/day in 2021.
Connection of the four Thylacine wells by mid-2023 will enable the Otway plant to produce at full nameplate capacity of 205 terajoules/day with the gas sold into existing contracts.
