PTTEP about to spud 3 x wells next to meo's ac/p acreage. cash...

PTTEP about to spud 3 x wells next to meo's ac/p acreage.

cash maple is also next to eni's ac/p21 which is ensco 104's next destination, imho.

all bodes well for meo's ac/p farm out process.

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PTTEP hunts for new Cash-Maple volumes

PTTEP is limbering up for a three-well drilling campaign off north-west Australia in search of additional gas volumes for its proposed Cash-Maple floating liquefied natural gas project, writes Russell Searancke.

The Thai operator has hired the semi-submersible drilling rig Stena Clyde for the Cash-3, Maple-3 and Maple East-1 wells, with the campaign due to begin in the first quarter of this year.

The company indicated in a regulatory filing that the objective of the three vertical wells was “to further test the reservoir deliverability in the Cash-Maple structure” and that drilling is likely to hit gas and condensate, but not oil.

Water depths at each location are about 130 metres. Maple East-1 is located in Block AC/P54, while Maple-3 and Cash-3 are in Block AC/RL7.

The campaign will take at least 150 days and, once completed, it is understood PTTEP will proceed with the front-end engineering and design phase.

A pre-FEED process has been ongoing for a long while, with various contractors involved at different times.

The principal contractor, at this time, is understood to be Hoegh LNG, which recently reiterated that its pre-FEED work on the project is based on a FLNG solution with production capacity of 2 million tonnes per annum.

Hoegh’s pre-FEED work will continue into the first quarter of 2014 “with a potential for developing into a full FEED in 2014”.

The Norwegian company’s FLNG designs will be based on its generic FLNG solutions developed in 2008 and 2009.

Hoegh is being supported by KBR, while Wood Group Kenny is involved with subsea and pipeline engineering. Hoegh and KBR have a ready-made team to perform the engineering procurement and construction of FLNG vessels, when and if awarded.

The Hoegh-led team comprises KBR for detailed engineering, South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine & Engineering for construction and Wood Group PSN for the operations and maintenance.

PTTEP has been working on an Australian FLNG project for years as a means of monetising its stranded gas reserves off north-west Australia.

Eight gas fields including Cash, Maple and Oliver, in water depths of between 90 metres and 305 metres, are part of the project.

The fields sit in blocks AC RL7, AC P54 and AC RL4. The LNG will be marketed in Thailand.