ConocoPhillips discovers natural gas in Otway basin offshore Australia

ConocoPhillips Australia has discovered natural gas in Otway basin exploration permit VIC/P79 offshore southeast Australia. The operator will conduct further work at the well (Essington-1) to determine potential flow rates, the reservoir’s ultimate resource recovery, and the commercial viability for potential development plans, the company said in a release Nov. 17. 

Operations are still under way at the discovery well and are likely to finish at the end of this month. A second exploration well in VIC/P79 (Charlemont-1) is expected to begin in December (weather and operational conditions permitting) and future additional wells may be considered, the company said. Like the Essington-1, the Transocean Equinox mobile offshore drilling unit will drill Charlemont-1.

Initial results from the Essington-1 well have detected the presence of natural gas in the two target reservoirs, Waarre A and Waarre C.

Preliminary estimates from logs and wireline results place the primary Waarre A target reservoir as a 62.6-m gross hydrocarbon column. The secondary Waarre C target shows a further 33.2 m gross hydrocarbon column as best estimates. 

The discovery is about 53 km offshore from Port Campbell in Victoria and 12 km from existing gas production wells, ConocoPhillips Australia said.

The Essington-1 well will be plugged, once operations are complete, in line with the approved environment plan.

ConocoPhillips Australia is operator of the Otway Exploration Drilling Program and holds a 51% interest in the relevant joint venture, together with the Korea National Oil Corp. (29%) and 3D Energi (20%).