AWE boosts natural gas reserves onshore W. Australia

AWE Ltd., Sydney, reported a 93% increase in the 2P reserves in its Waitsia natural gas field in the onshore North Perth basin of Western Australia.

The company, which is operator of the field in permits L1/L2, said the 2P reserves had increased to 344 bcf of gas. It added that the 2P reserves plus the 2C contingent resources for the field had increased by 30% to 630 bcf.

In addition, the total gross 2P reserves plus 2C contingent resources when combining Waitsia with nearby finds at Senecio, Irwin, and Synaphea went up by 20% to 867 bcf of gas.

The upgrade follows extensive evaluation of new core data acquired in 2015 from the Waitsia-1 and Waitsia-2 wells along with additional analysis of well test data from Senecio-3 and Waitsia-1.

AWE says the upgrade is another step in the ongoing appraisal of Waitsia gas field. Substantial progress has been made on field modelling and the company is finalizing options for full field development of Waitsia and the satellite fields.

The indications are that an initial plateau rate of about 100 terajoules/day could potentially be achieved from six wells, including the three appraisals already drilled.

Construction and technical work for the preliminary Stage 1A of the Waitsia project is continuing and AWE anticipates delivering contracted initial volumes of 10 terajoules/day of gas into the Western Australian market during this year’s third quarter.

Forward plans include another two appraisal wells for Waitsia field in 2017 concentrating on the southeast extent of the structure. These will be completed as production wells if successful.

A total of 15-20 wells are likely to be drilled during the fields expected 20-year life.

The wells will all be connected to a central gas processing facility and sales gas sent to market using existing nearby pipelines. The gas is 93% methane, which means that minimal processing will be required.

AWE has 50% of L1/L2 with fellow Sydney firm Origin Energy Ltd. also holding 50%.