By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 5 -- Santos Ltd. has awarded a contract to Australia's Worley Ltd. for front-end engineering and design (FEED) associated with the $200 million development of Casino gas field off western Victoria. Santos expects the FEED studies to be completed and regulatory approvals in hand by yearend.
Casino, discovered in September 2002, about 29 km southwest of Port Campbell and 250 km southwest of Melbourne, is estimated to have reserves of 200-270 bcf of gas, Santos said.
Santos expects to drill two development wells and install sub-sea infrastructure and a pipeline from the field to TXU's Iona gas processing plant near Port Campbell.
The Vic/P44 participants are operator Santos 50.0%, Peedamullah Petroleum Ltd. (AWE) 25.0%, and Mittwell Energy Resources Pty. Ltd. (Mitsui) 25.0%.
The JV has secured a 12 year gas sales agreement with TXU Australia to supply as much as 293 PJ of gas from the field with an option to extend this volume by an additional 200 PJ. Pending a final investment decision, Santos said the first gas sales could be delivered in the March 2006 quarter.
