Central Petroleum Ltd. and joint venture partners will drill two development wells at Mereenie oil and gas field in Amadeus basin in Northern Territory, Australia.
The joint venture is working to access additional resources to supply the east coast gas market. The decision to invest in the new development wells follows a signed gas sales agreements with the Northern Territory Government (NTG GSA), the company said in a release Aug. 15.
The Mereenie development wells are expected to return field production capacity back above 30 TJ/d from the current 27 TJ/d and produce at least 25 PJ of gas over their lifetime. Firm gas from the new wells is to be sold into the recently executed NTG GSA which can be expanded by up to 6 TJ/d following completion of the wells.
The wells are estimated to take 30 days each and target the crest of the Pacoota 3 (P3) reservoir (at depths of around 1,500 m to optimize productivity and gas recovery from the field, the company said.
Central, as operator, has contracted with Ventia Australia Pty Ltd. to have Rig 101 drill the two new Mereenie wells, West Mereenie 29 and 30. Drilling is expected to begin near yearend, with gas production expected to start in first-half 2025.
