Beach Energy Ltd., Adelaide, has concluded its four-well gas exploration and appraisal program in South Australia’s Cooper basin with a discovery in its wholly owned permit ex-PEL 91.
The Mokami-1 wildcat tested a western extension of the Permian-age southwest Patchawarra gas fairway and intersected 10.1 m of net pay across a 19.2-m gross section in the Patchawarra formation. The best drillstem test result flowed 8.6 MMcfd of gas along with a liquids content of 93 bbl/MMcf.
The well has been cased and suspended as a future producer.
Beach counted the overall program a success, notching three liquids-rich gas discoveries from the four wells. The Canunda-3 appraisal well and the Crocker-1 wildcat had been discoveries earlier in the drilling campaign.
Beach said Canunda-3 and Crockery-1 reinforced the potential for additional stratigraphically trapped gas in the southwest Patchawarra play, while the Mokami-1 step-out bodes well for future drilling in the frontier Permian ‘Edge’ play.
Planning for an expanded gas drilling program in the next financial year is well under way.
On the Western Flank oil front, in permit PEL 182 where Senex Energy Ltd. is operator with 57% interest and Beach has 43%. The combine found oil with the Hoplite-1 well, which intersected a 17-m gross section with oil shows in the upper Birkhead formation in the Eromanga basin, but a drillstem test indicated subcommercial flow. Better reservoir with more oil shows was found with a sidetrack into the middle Birkhead, but again, not sufficient for a commercial development.
Nevertheless, the presence of oil in the Birkhead is deemed encouraging for a northern extension of the Western Flank play fairway in this permit.
In permit ex-PEL 91, the Pennington-5 appraisal well intersected 2.2 m of net oil pay in the Namur Sandstone and 1.8 m in the McKinlay Member as well as shows in the Birkhead. The well will be cased and suspended as a future producer. Beach has now spudded Pennington-6 in a continuation of the oil campaign.
