Empire Oil & Gas Ltd., Perth, has been granted production leases over two previously designated exploration areas incorporating the Red Gully and Gin Gin gas fields and the Red Gully gas processing facility in the North Perth basin onshore Western Australia (OGJ Online, Apr. 22, 2013).
The L18 and L19 licenses encompass 18 sq km and finalize Empire’s transition from an explorer to a producer.
Red Gully-1 and Gin Gin-1 wells have been producing gas and condensate on an extended production test basis since June 2013. Commissioning of the Red Gully facility took place in September 2013.
Empire says that average daily sales for the September quarter from the fields was 7.7 terajoules of gas and 350 bbl of condensate.
Empire plans to use the Red Gully facility as a production hub for future exploration discoveries in the production licenses and the surrounding EP389 exploration permit.
Gas is being sold to Alcoa alumina plant near Bunbury via connection of the Red Gully plant to the Dampier-Bunbury gas trunkline. Condensate is trucked to BP PLC’s Kwinana refinery south of Perth.
Empire has 76.39% interest in the project, while ERM Power holds the remainder.
