WITH moratoriums to the left of him and bans to the right,...

WITH moratoriums to the left of him and bans to the right, Central Petroleum managing director Richard Cottee has told Energy Newshe can only help save east coast gas markets if the authorities remove structural dis-incentives to invest.


Cottee is keen to further develop the Mereenie, Palm Valley and Dingo gas fields in the Amadeus Basin, to put as much as into the proposed Northern Gas Pipeline as there is both capacity and demand for, but he says the regulatory environment is not supportive.


Central’s three fields have gross 2P reserves of 207 petajoules and 234 PJ (2C) and it has gross installed production capacity of up to 65 terajoules per day, plus advanced targets for drilling such as Ooraminna, Mereenie Deep, Mereenie Flank, Palm Valley Deep, Palm Valley West and a scattering of leads around Dingo, but he says he can’t justify ramping up drilling if the market support isn’t there.


“We have the gas, but if we contract now and there is downward pressure we are locked into the old price, and given the fact that the NGP is being built – the steel has been ordered and will be delivered this month – that gives us a high degree of optionality, but there is a real issue with backhaul,” he said.




http://www.energynewsbulletin.net/storyview.asp?storyID=826967355&feature=Northern Territory/SEAAOC§ionsource=f2874522&aspdsc=yes