Australia

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Dec. 8 – Beach Petroleum Ltd., Adelaide, and ATCO Ltd., Toronto, signed a memorandum of understanding to investigate opportunities to develop and commercialize Beach’s unconventional shale gas and liquids resource in Australia’s Cooper basin.

Beach and ATCO will focus on the gas gathering, processing, transportation, and distribution requirements of the unconventional gas development program. The parties may also consider the feasibility of using commercialized discoveries of unconventional gas to fuel a gas-fired power plant.

Beach has a dominant shale gas acreage position in the Nappamerri Trough in the Cooper basin through its acquisition of interests in PEL 218, where it has a 90% interest in Permian strata and 23.33% in post-Permian strata, and ATP 855, where it holds up to a 40% working interest.

The Nappamerri Trough straddles the South Australian-Queensland border at the heart of the Cooper basin and is considered the source kitchen for the oil and gas fields on the margins of the trough.

Initial work by Beach in this area suggests the potential for a world class shale gas resource of tens of trillions of cubic feet, Beach said.