Twinza Oil Ltd., Perth, has started flow of natural gas and condensate from its Pasca A-4 appraisal well in the Papau New Guinea Gulf of Papua.
Pasca field, a carbonate pinnacle reef discovered by Phillips Petroleum in 1968, lies in permit PPL 328 in 93 m of water about 250 km west of Port Moresby.
The A-4 well, which was drilled using China Oilfield Services' COSL Seeker jack up drilling rig, is the culmination of 6 years of work by Twinza since it signed the permit agreement in 2011.
The company said a very rich gas-condensate came from the well, which the company hopes will underpin the first offshore development in Papua New Guinea.
Twinza said it is aiming for a final investment decision on the development program at the end of March 2018 that would lead to first production at yearend 2020.
The company has already invested about $48 million in the project and will outlay another $250 million when a development licence is granted.
Controversial history
Pasca has had a controversial history, including a spectacular blowout in the Pasca A-3 appraisal in 1983, under the operatorship of Australian Superior Oil, that caught fire and flowed wild for a number of months before it cratered in on itself.
A 3D mapping survey conducted several years ago concluded that there is still a substantial amount of gas in the field and Twinza applied for a development license.
Twinza submitted an environmental impact statement for the development program in August 2016 with a plan to initially strip condensate and LPG from the gas flow. The LPG and condensate will be fed into two separate floating production, storage, and offloading vessels while the dry gas is to be reinjected into the reservoir for redevelopment at a later date.
Twinza estimates Pasca A contains 19 million bbl of condensate and 20 million bbl of LPG. The propane component of the LPG will be sold into Papua New Guinea's domestic market while the condensate, butane, and excess propane will be exported. The liquids project is expected to have a life of 20 years with a development cost of $250-550 million.
The subsequent gas production options include installation of a floating LNG facility or a pipeline to shore.