Exploration & Development

Beetaloo drilling approved by Northern Territory government

Aug. 23, 2019

The environmental management plan for the Origin Energy Ltd.-Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd. joint venture’s next well in a drilling program slated for the Beetaloo subbasin in the Northern Territory has been approved.

Rick Wilkinson

Origin, as operator, will spud the Kyalla 117 N2 horizontal appraisal well in permit EP 117 in September.

Civil works to prepare the well pad are nearing completion.

The well is targeting the Kyalla shale liquids-rich gas fairway and will be drilled, hydraulically fracture stimulated, and tested as part of Stage 2 evaluation of the Kyalla and Velkerri shales in the region.

The Beetaloo subbasin, about 600 km south southeast of Darwin, contains rocks of Proterozoic age within the larger McArthur basin.

Sydney-based Origin has 70% interest while Falcon, incorporated in British Columbia and headquartered in Dublin, holds 30%.