see article below re caldita and barossa 3 x appraisal drilling...

see article below re caldita and barossa 3 x appraisal drilling about to start. good luck piping this 16% co2 gas gas back to darwin. why? 1. no gapping void to sequester that much co2 into is accessible. 2. sequestering that much co2 would be a technical marvel. 3. technical marvels cost a lot in this industry. 4. point 3 makes sequestering option a commercial dead duck. 5. sequestering 16% co2 back into the same reservoir means you will almost certainly extract the same co2 twice and in doing so stuff up your entire reservoir and RoI....

we already know flng is a dead duck for co2 greater than 10% max.

this gas is destined for ts. meo is so cheap now that it will most likely not be around when the fat lady sings. maybe?

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Search for new riches builds up momentum in Oz

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By RUSSELL SEARANCKE Kuala Lumpur

11 April 2014 00:00 GMT
MAJOR operators are on the hunt for significant hydrocarbon deposits off Australia’s western and northern coasts, where 11 mid-and-deep-water drilling rigs are currently being put through their paces.

Chevron remains at the forefront of the current exploration drive, and has been so for several years.

The US supermajor has two large rigs — the semi-submersibles Atwood Osprey and Ocean America — on long-term hire tasked with development drilling at the Gorgon and Wheatstone projects and with satisfying Chevron’s exploration appetite.

It plans to drill up to 29 more deep-water exploration prospects in the coming years in the Greater Gorgon and Exmouth areas.

Its joint venture with Shell and ExxonMobil has a virtual acreage monopoly in the Greater Gorgon region, but other players also have interests in the Exmouth.

Woodside Petroleum is one of those and, following a self-imposed breather on exploration drilling, has just started a multi-well campaign in the Exmouth sub-basin and the frontier Outer Canning basin that will take a couple of years to complete.

The Exmouth campaign comprises the Toro, Sedan-A and Ragnar prospects, all in about 1100 metres of water, while the Outer Canning wells include Hannover South-1, Steel Dragon and Anhalt plus up to five more wells in water depths ranging from 620 to 2500 metres. Woodside also has has a pair of big units lined up for these tasks — the drillship Deepwater Millennium and the semisub Atwood Eagle.

Meanwhile, ConocoPhillips continues with exploration and appraisal drilling in its Greater Poseidon area, and will use the semisub Transocean Legend for two more wells this year and then embark on a field development, assuming the six finds it has so far made confirm a sizeable resource.

The company will also soon start a much-anticipated three-well appraisal campaign on the Caldita-Barossa gas field off northern Australia in a bid to find reserves for an expansion of its Darwin liquefied natural gas project.

The semisub Nanhai VI has been contracted for this mission, which should occupy the rig until 2015.


Key wells Australian independent Santos has been an active offshore driller for several years and has two key exploration wells this year.

It is currently drilling the Vanuatu oil prospect near its Mutineer-Exeter field complex using the Nanhai VI, and has spudded a large gas prospect in the Browse basin called Lasseter.

Santos has hired the semisub Jack Bates for Lasseter, which is in the same permit as its Crown wet gas discovery, the company’s largest ever operated find.

Apache also has two semisubs in operation — the Atwood Eagle and Atwood Falcon — and a company spokesman says another semisub is needed for the first quarter of 2015 and a jack-up for the fourth quarter of this year.

The jack-up will initially focus on appraisal drilling at the Stag oilfield plus two exploration commitment wells — Gump in Block WA-192-P and Davis in WA-214-P.

The new semisub will open up with two infill wells at the Van Gogh field followed by two explor­ation wells, Hyde and Orbea, followed by the final phase of developement drilling at Julimar-Brunello. The company is currently drilling the Balnaves West-1 with the Atwood Eagle, and has a string of ready-to-drill prospects including Phoenix South-1, Palmerston-1 and Roc-1.

BHP Billiton has, typically without fanfare, drilled a number of wells recently with the Nanhai VI and the Jack Bates, including the high-impact Rydal and Bunyip oil prospects, plus add-on wells at the Pyrenees oilfield.

Bunyip, if successful, could be the catalyst for a new greenfield development in BHP’s Tallaganda area, says a company spokesperson.

Italy’s Eni recently completed a series of wells in the Timor Sea, including appraisals at the Kitan and Evans Shoal fields.

Eni has also committed to the Penguin Deep and Numisia-1 exploration prospects, and will then hand over the semisub Stena Clyde to AGR, which will drill the Schooner-1 gas prospect in the Browse basin on behalf of a joint venture comprising operator Hunt Oil, SK Energy and Mitsui.

The Stena Clyde will then transfer to Thai operator PTTEP, which has the Cash-3, Maple-3 and Maple East-1 wells on its to-do list plus the Dillon South-1 exploration target, all in the Timor Sea.


Frontier At the end of this year, US independent Murphy Oil will start drilling two of a three-well commitment in a frontier part of the Perth basin using the Atwood Falcon.

Murphy is the operator on behalf of Kufpec and Samsung Oil & Gas, and there will be keen industry interest in these wells, which are understood to be oil prospective.

Meanwhile, Exxon­Mobil and Shell continue to drill development wells at the Jansz-Io and Prelude fields, respectively, with the drillship Deepwater Frontier and semisub Noble Clyde Boudreaux.

At the end of this year, Japanese independent Inpex will take possession of the semisub Ensco 5006 for a three-year-plus contract at the Ichthys field.

Inpex also hopes to begin an exploration drilling campaign for gas and condensate in blocks WA-341-P and WA-343-P later this year, and is in negotiations for an appropriate rig, said a company spokesperson.