Page 9 - GLNG Week 45

GLNG COMMENTARY GLNG

Beach’s upstream push continues

The company has announced a new gas discovery in Victoria as well as an upstream

portfolio shake-up

PROJECTS & AUSTRALIAN independent Beach Energy has quarter. The first well drilled will be the Artisan
COMPANIES announced a new natural gas discovery in the 1 exploration well, followed by development
south-eastern state of Victoria as well as a port- wells in the Geographe and Thylacine fields.”
WHAT: folio shake-up that will free up cash flow as well The company has several irons in the fire
Beach has made a new as provide new exploration opportunities. beyond the Otway Basin, however, with some
gas discovery is Victoria The company’s announcements come just of these being delivered thanks to its recent deal
and has expanded weeks after it revealed that its third-quarter to buy Senex Energy’s South Australian Cooper
its acreage in South revenue had declined by 17.5% year on year to Basin assets.
Australia. AUD361mn ($262.8mn) owing to weaker inter-
national oil prices. Despite revealing the weaker SA expansion
WHY: results at the end of October, Beach said at the Beach said at the start of the month it had agreed
The East Coast gas time that it had good reason to be optimistic. to pay AUD87.5mn ($63.7mn) in cash for Senex
market is expected to It not only pointed to the fact that revenue Energy’s assets in the Cooper Basin.
experience a supply was up 13% from the previous quarter, a sign of The acquisition includes Senex’s 60% oper-
shortfall within a few improving energy prices if not production, but ated interest in ex-PEL 104 and ex-PEL 111
years. that it had a new wave of exploration prospects – which include the Growler, Snatcher and
on the horizon. This wave included the Enter- Spitfire oilfields and associated infrastructure
WHAT NEXT: prise 1 onshore-to-offshore well – the source of – and raises Beach’s share in both licences to
The company’s assets in this week’s new find. 100%.
WA could turn it into a Beach will also receive a 60% operated inter-
key supplier to regional Victorian discovery est the Growler-Lycium flowline system (GLFS)
gas markets. Beach said on November 10 that Enterprise 1, and a 40% interest in the Lycium-Moomba
located in the VIC/P42(V) permit, had inter- flowline system (LMFS), giving the company
sected a 146-metre gas column in the Upper 100% ownership of infrastructure in the West-
Waarre Formation, including 115 metres of net ern Flank.
gas pay with no gas-water contact identified. Beach is also set to receive a 100% operated
The well, which was spudded about 3.5 stake in PPL 270, which contains the producing
km from Port Campbell and 8 km from the Gemba gas field, and a 70% operated interest in
Otway gas plant, was drilled diagonally off- PPL 207, which includes the producing Worrior
shore to a total measured depth (MD) of 4,974 oilfield.
metres, using an extended reach drilling (ERD) Beach said these assets, which cover 10,876
approach that allowed for a 3.2-km step-out. square km gross, had a production forecast of Beach is also
While the formation is still being evaluated in around 600,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe)
order to determine a resource estimate, Beach for financial year 2020-2021, Moreover, they counting on its
said its preliminary assessment indicated that are expected to boost proven and probable (2P) interests in the
key reservoir parameters were in line with pre- reserves by 4.6mn barrels of oil and 2.2mn boe
drill expectations. The company expects to have in gas and liquids. country’s west
a resource estimate before it releases its July-De- Kay said the transaction was estimated to
cember results in February 2021. deliver around AUD5mn ($3.6mn) of annual to advance its
Beach now intends to case and suspend the operational savings, with these anticipated to
well as a future producer, with a well test antici- be realised in the first year following the deal’s export-orientated
pated to confirm productivity and provide data completion. goals.
for a proposed pipeline to the Otway gas plant. He said: “[T]he new acreage contains more
The company said it had already launched a than 10 drill-ready oil and gas prospects, pro-
detailed engineering work and regulatory viding additional upside potential. These
approvals process for the pipeline. prospects will be integrated into our growth
“The Enterprise result also de-risks other portfolio as drilling candidates from financial
nearby prospects, warranting their evaluation year 2021-2022.”
as potential future drilling candidates,” Beach Beach said the expanded exploration port-
managing director and CEO Matt Kay said. folio provided opportunities for it to focus on
“Our focus now moves to the upcoming off- areas including the prospective Birkhead oil
shore Victorian Otway Basin drilling campaign, play, the southern portion of the Western Flank
which is due to commence in the March 2021 – covered by the recently acquired Westeros 3D

Week 45 13•November•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P9