Buru Energy Ltd., Perth, signed an agreement with Transborders Energy to conduct a pre-feasibility study for commercializing gas from Rafael field in the onshore Canning basin of Western Australia via a mini-floating LNG vessel moored off the Kimberley coast.
The vessel would have a pre-engineered production capacity of 1.5 million tonnes/year and LNG would be exported directly from the vessel.
The solution potentially provides a faster, more capital-efficient, and less complex regulatory and commercial alternative LNG production pathway for Rafael gas than a concept involving piping of Rafael production to the North West Shelf for liquefaction and export, Buru said.
This solution being evaluated has obtained ‘major project’ designation from the Australian government and has been developed in a multi-project collaboration arrangement with Kyushu Electric Power, Mitsui OSK Lines, Technip Energies, SBM Offshore, and Add Energy.
The pre-feasibility study is scheduled for completion by March 2023.
The Rafael-1 discovery was made in permit EP428 in late 2021 (OGJ Online, Mar. 8, 2022). The well encountered significant gas columns in three zones with a test of the lower Ungani Dolomite zone flowing gas over 7 MMcfd.
An independent resources report by ERCE estimated a recoverable 3C gas resource over 1 tcf with an estimated 20.5 million bbl of associated condensate.
Buru is operator at Rafael with 50% interest. Origin Energy Ltd. holds the remaining 50%. Origin’s Australian upstream assets are in the process of being acquired by Brookfield Asset Management and EIG.
