Page 10 - AsianOil Week 02 2021

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Australia backs

Beetaloo development

The government has unveiled a new round of funding geared
at speeding up the country’s development of shale gas

COMMENTARY THE Australian government has announced to promote gas production and consumption as
plans to provide additional funding that is a means to reinvigorate the national economy
geared towards speeding up the development of in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19)
WHAT: the Northern Territory’s shale gas resources. pandemic.
Australia will invest Following its announcement last month As such, the government has a good deal rid-
$167.9mn in upgrading that it would provide more than AUD50mn ing on the play’s success.
roads in the NT. ($38.7mn) in grants for exploration drilling in Road upgrades
the Beetaloo Sub-basin, the government said Federal Minister for Resources, Water and
WHY: this week that it now intends to provide an Northern Australia Keith Pitt announced on
Upgraded roads will additional AUD217mn ($167.9mn) in funding January 14 that additional federal funding would
make drilling operations for road upgrades that should ease the basin’s be provided for the new Northern Territory Gas
and logistics easier to development. Industry Roads Upgrades corridor.
manage. Although the Beetaloo has drummed up The road upgrades plan is part of the Can-
a great deal of excitement in recent months, berra’s Beetaloo Strategic Basin Plan, which
WHAT NEXT: thanks to promising results from a Santos-op- also includes the aforementioned exploration
Several exploration erated vertical well in the basin, the play is still grants announced on December 17. Pitt said last
and appraisal wells are relatively undeveloped. For example, more wells month that the government would contribute up
planned for the Beetaloo are slated for drilling this year than have been to A$7.5mn per well, capped at three wells per
this year. sunk over the last decade. venture, before June 30, 2022. This year could see
The government hopes that the provision as many as five Beetaloo wells drilled by Santos,
of early drilling grants, coupled with improve- Tamboran Resources, Origin Energy, Falcon Oil
ments to site access, will remedy this situation. & Gas and Empire Energy.
Canberra has picked Beetaloo as the first basin to The decision to follow exploration grants
back directly as part of a wider national strategy with transportation infrastructure upgrades

6 Wells Planned in the Beetaloo during 2020-21
Tamboran’s EP 136 block (100% interest) is positioned to be significantly derisked from 2021 drilling activity
Middle Velkerri Top Key Well Result
Subsea M
-250 Planned
-750 2021 well
-1,250
-1,750
-2,250
-2,750
Origin/Falcon
Amungee NW-1H
Horizontal
Flow test (2016) EP 161 Tanumbirini #1
Discovery (2014)
Origin/Falcon EP 161
Kyalla 117 N2 Tanumbirini #2H/
horizontal well 3H horizontal well
(2019); frac tests (2021)
expected in 4Q
2020 Maverick #1 Empire Energy
Carpentaria #1
vertical well (4Q
2020)
100% Tamboran
Origin/Falcon Tamboran 25% Maverick #1
76-S2 horizontal Tamboran horizontal well
well test (2021) (4Q 2021)

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 02 14•January•2021