Petratherm receives specialised rig for Paralana deep wells Tuesday, 12 May 2009
PETRATHERM is on track to start drilling the first of two deep geothermal wells at the Paralana joint venture project in South Australia following the arrival of the Weatherford Lighting 2000hp rig from Dubai.
The company said the custom-made state-of-the-art rig arrived at Port Pirie on Sunday and will be transported to site this week to drill the Paralana-2 well next month.
The rig will be used to drill a 4-kilometre deep injection well that will, together with the second well, establish an underground heat exchanger to carry super-heated water between them by early 2010.
Petratherm managing director Terry Kallis said the arrival of the rig was a major milestone for the company and the wider geothermal energy sector.
“The arrival of the rig is not only great news for Petratherm but also for other geothermal energy developers across Australia who will subsequently have access to it after we’ve completed our initial drilling,” he said.
“Our target is still to deliver Australia’s fist commercial geothermal energy supply by early 2011.
“We then anticipate supplying South Australian homes and businesses on a much larger scale by 2013.”
The Paralana project is being developed by partners Petratherm, Beach Petroleum and TRUenergy, and is considered the most commercial geothermal energy project in Australia.
PTR Price at posting:
41.0¢ Sentiment: LT Buy Disclosure: Not Held
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