Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent
MELBOURNE, July 17 -- ChevronTexaco Australia Pty. Ltd. reported an indicated gas discovery at its Chandon-1 wildcat on permit WA-268-P in the Greater Gorgon region of the North West Shelf off Western Australia.
It did not run tests but called the discovery "sizable" on the basis of the well logs.
Consequently, there is no knowledge of the carbon dioxide content, although the new find is geographically closer to the Io-Jansz gas complex than to Gorgon field. Io-Jansz has about 2% CO2 and is less problematic than Gorgon, which has 12-14% CO2.
The Chandon-1 wildcat was drilled in 1,200 m of water about 260 km from the coast and 30 km northwest of Io-Jansz.
Several wells located around the Greater Gorgon area are intended to back up the Chevron group's reserves for the proposed Jansz development. Greater Gorgon reserves (before Chandon-1) total 40 tcf.
Chevron has appealed recent recommendations by the Western Australia Environmental Protection Agency against the Gorgon-Jansz development and LNG project on Barrow Island and is awaiting a government decision on the matter (OGJ, June 12, 2006, Newsletter).
The next wildcat planned in the region is Clio-1, about 20 km northwest of Gorgon field. There also will be an appraisal of Io field before Transocean Inc.'s Jack Bates semisubmersible moves into other Chevron permits elsewhere on the Shelf.
The company is spending $190 million this year on all its North West Shelf permits in a program that involves 11 exploration and appraisal wells and 8,500 sq km of 3D and 2D seismic survey.