Posted on 22/01/2025
The Operator of the Mereenie Joint Venture, Central Petroleum Ltd (ASX: CTP) has advised that the West Mereenie 29 well (WM-29) is tied-in to the processing plant and commenced gas sales to the Northern Territory on the 20th of January 2025.
A pre-tie in test achieved a total flow rate of approximately 7 TJs per day (TJ/d) with stabilised flowing pressure over a two-hour period. Production has been choked back to 6 TJ/d, in line with the capacity of the well site production equipment.
The flow rate achieved at WM-29 is double pre-drill expectations and significantly higher than the rates achieved at the Joint Venture’s previous West Mereenie 28 well, drilled in 2021.
The excellent flow rate at WM-29 was achieved through quantifying the impact of drilling fluids on the Pacoota reservoirs. The consequential change in how the Joint Venture planned these wells demonstrates that even in long producing fields, the application of new ideas can deliver significant upside results.
The flow rate achieved at WM-29 takes overall Mereenie production up to the pre-drill 30 TJ/d field production target, with the second of our development wells, West Mereenie 30 well (WM-30), still to come.
WM-30 is currently at a depth of 585mMD and is expected to reach its primary Pacoota-3 sandstone target, at an estimated depth of 1,681mMD, over the coming month. “An old gas field can learn new tricks" says Chief Executive Andrew Jefferies. "This success reflects the hard work done by the Joint Venture in applying science to the rocks at Mereenie, which guided the careful planning, drilling and completion of this well. This has led to the best outcome in the field in recent memory.
“Even though Mereenie has been the mainstay of the Northern Territory's energy demands for over 30 years, these rates demonstrate it has more to give. These are relatively straight forward wells, drilled and completed in a month, tied back to the existing plant in days with no further infrastructure required.
“The gas is already flowing into the market enabling the lights to stay on when the sun goes down, miners to keep mining, and Territorians to enjoy a cold beverage with their delicately sautéed Emu steak" Andrew Jefferies says.
Participants in Permit OL4/OL5 are Central Petroleum Mereenie Pty Ltd as trustee of the Central Petroleum Mereenie Unit Trust (25%), Echelon Mereenie Pty Ltd (42.5%), Cue Mereenie Pty Ltd (7.5%) and Horizon Australia Energy Pty Ltd (25%).