I have been doing some research into Helium reserves. CTP was talking up potential reserves at Mt Kitty. Has there been any developments?
CTP - Helium a potential bonanza | copper ASX Forum
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Dec 1, 2016 - 21 posts - 5 authors
RECORDING has started on more than 1000km of 2D seismic in the remote southern Amadeus Basin with the aim of examining some massive gas-helium targets that could be a a potential bonanza for takeover target Central Petroleum and company-saver for the debt heavy Santos.
As part of its second stage farm-in agreement with Central Petroleum the Adelaide-based oiler needs to fund 1300km of seismic south of the Mereenie, Palm Valley and Dingo fields.
The aim of the first part of the programme is to mature the Dukas and Mahler drill targets, which are considered prospective for giant gas and helium and gather data for the Rossini lead.
A 300km second stage will round out the obligations, and will be decided on once the initial data gas been collected.
Santos is expected to spend around $12 million on the survey, which should be completed in March.
Once the survey is completed Santos will move from 25% to 40% in EPs 82, 105 and 112.
Another area, EP 106, to the north of the undeveloped Ooraminna gas field, has been relinquished.
Central has long talked up the potential of the area for helium, and in 2014 successfully drilled the Mt Kitty-1 well with Santos in that returned one of the highest helium concentrations in the world at about 10%
The well flowed up to 500,000 cubic feet per day in EP 125 and is now suspended.
Another helium show in the 1992 Magee-1 well, drilled by Pacific Oil & Gas, also returned promising helium values at around 6%.
Work to date by Central has highlighted the massive helium potential of the Amadeus Basin containing giant sub-salt structures that have never been drilled.
Helium is very difficult to trap in natural reservoirs, often seeping to the surface, and it commands a premium to the gas price.
Mt Kitty-1 and Magee-1 both proved the salt layer in the Amadeus Basin is a perfect seal, and the long-term hope is that the basin could become the largest supplier of helium worldwide.
The primary targets for exploration are the sub-salt and intra-salt plays of the Neoproterozoic lower Gillen-Heavitree Petroleum System.
The Heavitree Quartzite is a fluvio-marine sandstone that flowed gas from Magee-1 while Mt Kitty-1 flowed gas and helium from fractured granitic basement.
Some estimates suggest the Amadeus Basin contains up to 10 trillion cubic feet of gas, of which up to 8% could be helium, or 800Bcf, enough for a decade’s worth of global helium consumption.
The two wells have confirmed the existence of an extensive sub-salt petroleum system as well as the excellent sealing capacity of the Neoproterozoic evaporites.
In 2013 Santos acquired over 1500 km of regional 2D seismic across the Southern Amadeus Joint Venture permits, the first regional seismic dataset acquired over the southern Amadeus Basin resulting in the significant Dukas and Mahler structures.
The planned seismic will further de-risk them.
Dukas, located north of Murphy-1, comprises a large and broad basement roll-over mapped on just three seismic lines, however there had been some difficulty in imaging the basement and the data quality is highly variable where salt mobilisation has occurred.
Gas produced conventionally in the Texas panhandle, the US’s biggest helium-producing area, is about 0.3% helium.
The US government, which holds the world’s largest helium reserves, conducted an auction of 300 million cubic feet from the Amarillo storage facility and raised $28 million with bids setting the price at about $US100 per thousand cubic feet.
