COP did not have to buy into the same agreement as KAR with...

COP did not have to buy into the same agreement as KAR with Liberty Pet. COP evaluated their risk,established their objectives and ruled out WA-314.

They do not have any deadline or funding issues as Karoon so they can play the long term game.

Agree not a good idea at this point in time. KAR still has agreements to abide by. My question is why no one wants to buy into WA-314.

Attached are other companies (thanks agentdownload)view on
COP and the browse basin.

Bob

By RUSSELL SEARANCKE Darwin Australia

04 October 2013 00:00 GMT
Momentum has been building gradually over the last few years in northern Australia, both in the offshore and onshore arenas, and an unprecedented upsurge in exploration and development is under way in both sectors.

In the waters north and north-west of Darwin, there are some fairly large stranded gas discoveries and undeveloped oil pools, all of which carry with them certain geological challenges.

In the onshore arena in Northern Territory, there has been a boom in interest and take-up of exploration acreage.

The surge in activity is driven mostly by onshore unconventional oil and gas, improved technology, and by better access to either domestic or export markets.

Darwin is reaping the benefits. The Ichthys liquefied natural gas plant is being built there, expansion of the Darwin LNG plant is looking more likely, and the city will become a major supply base for the Prelude, Bonaparte and Cash-Maple floating LNG projects.

The offshore sector is dominated by three operators, and each has clear ambitions to make more exploration discoveries and bolster its sales domestically or through exports. ConocoPhillips has been the leading operator in the warm waters of the Timor Sea for years, Eni has brought an aggressive growth strategy to the region, and PTTEP is at last released from the shackles of Montara and can start developing its other assets in the area. Each company outlined some of its ambitions for the region at the recent South East Asia Australia Offshore Conference.

ConocoPhillips yearns to build an additional train at its Darwin liquefied natural gas plant, and an opportunity is, at last, beginning to take shape.

The US company will begin early next year a three-well appraisal drilling campaign on its Barossa gas discovery using the semi-submersible rig Nanhai VI.

Barossa sits in Block NT/P69 and was discovered in 2007 — it is understood to be a sizeable resource but with a high carbon dioxide content of up to 16%.

If the drilling is successful “Darwin LNG is a real option for the development of that gas”, says joint venture partner Santos.


Approvals Darwin LNG has government approvals already in place to expand its capacity from 3.7 million tonnes per annum to 10 million tpa.

If the Barossa campaign is not successful, Santos recently said the Darwin LNG joint venture will consider third-party gas. “Collaboration and co-operation in our industry is something the industry collectively has strived for over the years, and while not a silver bullet, it should be seen as a way to unlock our resources,” says Santos’ vice president for Western Australia and Northern Territory John Anderson.

“And it is collaboration that I am talking about when I refer to Darwin LNG’s future.

“Whether it be backfill or expansion — the proximity of Darwin to Asia, and the ability to use existing infrastructure, should be considered by industry as a real, economic and cost competitive option for the development of nearby fields,” Anderson adds.

ConocoPhillips is meanwhile building up a significant gas resource in the Poseidon area in the Browse basin but, rather than a tie-back of about 1000 kilometres to Darwin, FLNG is viewed as a more likely solution.


Investing The second big operator in northern Australia is Eni, which says it plans to spend up to US$230 million on offshore drilling in the Timor Sea over the next 18 months including in Timor-Leste waters.

Eni Australia managing director Ernie Delfos says the company is investing heavily in Australia and the Far East because energy demand in the region is strong.

The Evans Shoal North-1 explor­ation well in Block NT/P48 is being drilled by the jack-up Ensco 104 and is nearing completion.

Evans Shoal is a big resource, containing about 7 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas but it has a carbon dioxide content of 28%.

The joint venture partners are LNG majors Shell on 32.5%, Eni with 32.5%, Petronas Carigali on 25% and Osaka Gas with 10%.

However, there is still no clear sign of a preferred development concept.

Australian company MEO has for years promoted its Tassie Shoal methanol project as an ideal outlet for high CO2 gas such as Evans Shoal and Caldita-Barossa.

After the Evans Shoal North-1 well is completed, Eni will then drill the Blackwood-2 well in Block NT/P68 where the company is trying to build a gas resource alongside the Heron discovery.

Eni also plans to drill an oil feature in Block AC/P21 near the Vesta-Swan oil discoveries, followed by near-field prospects at its Blacktip gas field, which supplies nearly all of the Northern Territory’s gas needs.

The third main operator is Thai company PTTEP, which is putting Montara behind it and moving on with other elements of its Timor Sea portfolio, all of which reside in its Ashmore-Cartier stronghold.

PTTEP Australia chief executive Ken Fitzpatrick says that since the Montara oil spill and fire in 2009, the company has transformed.

“Our working mantra is that safety is paramount for PTTEP AA — not cost, not schedule and not production. No one should be injured at PTTEP AA. This is reinforced with all our contractors,” says Fitzpatrick.


FEED in sight The company’s next field development will be the Cash-Maple floating LNG project, which is proceeding toward front-end engineering and design in the first half of 2014.

Three appraisal wells are planned at Cash-Maple in the months ahead — Maple East-1 in Block AC/P54, and Maple-3 and Cash-3 in Block AC/RL7.

PTTEP also owns a cluster of small oil discoveries in the Ashmore-Cartier area called Audacious, Tenacious and Katandra, which one day could form a combined development.Bookmark and Share