BP lets contract for Great Australian Bight exploration program

Feb. 24, 2015
BP Australia has let a contract to ASCO Group for the supply base management of its forthcoming exploration drilling program in the South Australian portion of the Great Australian Bight. The program will begin in 2016 and includes four wells about 300 km southwest of Ceduna.

BP Australia has let a contract to ASCO Group for the supply base management of its forthcoming exploration drilling program in the South Australian portion of the Great Australian Bight. The program will begin in 2016 and includes four wells about 300 km southwest of Ceduna.

ASCO will establish and manage a supply base at Flinders Port in Adelaide in partnership with Flinders Logistics.

The base activity will begin early next year and employ about 25 full-time employees at peak operation.

The facilities include 120 m of quayside and in excess of 20,000 sq m of laydown area. There will be a liquids mud plant, light and heavy vehicle parking areas, and an administration building with training room.

The base will provide a full range of stevedoring and materials management services that includes loading to trucks, ground transportation scheduling and coordination, warehouse and yard management and tank farm management.

ASCO also will be responsible for management of Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service compliant wash-down facilities.

BP’s much-anticipated program is focused on the underexplored Southern Margin in the Bight and has a guaranteed work program expenditure of $605 million (Aus.) and a potential upside of more than $1 billion.

The wells will be drilled in 1,000-2,500 m of water in permits already covered by 3D seismic data acquired by BP in 2011-12.

The program will be BP’s first Australian exploration operatorship in 25 years and it will also be the first wells in the Bight since Woodside Petroleum Ltd.’s Gnarlyknots-1 dry hole in 2003 (OGJ Online, Apr. 23, 2003).