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First gas from Geographe wells

Beach Energy is pleased to announce the first two wells of its offshore Otway Basin campaign – Geographe 4 and 5 – have been connected to the Otway Gas Plant and are now delivering gas into the East Coast market following the completion of the commissioning phase.

The new wells effectively double the Otway Gas Plant production capacity which now has the well capacity to deliver ~180 TJ/d. Actual production rates will depend on customer nominations which vary on a seasonal and daily basis.

Connecting the remainder of the wells from the offshore campaign and connecting the nearshore Enterprise discovery is required to attain plant nameplate production capacity of 205 TJ/d.

Beach Energy Acting CEO, Morné Engelbrecht said the connection of the Geographe wells is an important step towards delivering on Beach’s growth targets at a time when the East Coast Gas market is potentially facing shortfalls as early as 2023.

“Achieving first gas from these Geographe wells is an important milestone for Beach as it represents the first gas from our first ever offshore drilling campaign,” Mr Engelbrecht said.

“This represents one of the first key building blocks towards our production growth target of 28MMboe in FY24.

“We know that the East Coast market needs this supply of natural gas and this is why Beach is continuing its development campaign in the Otway Basin and we are focussed on delivering that program.”

Drilling and testing of Thylacine North 1 well, the third well in the 6-well development campaign, was also recently completed with the rig preparing to move to the Thylacine West 1 well location which will be followed by two more Thylacine development wells.

For more information on the Beach Energy Offshore Otway campaign, visit www.beachenergy.com.au/vic-otway.

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WOODSIDE COMPLETES PLUTO TRAIN 2 SELL-DOWN TO GIP

Woodside has completed the sale of a 49% non-operating participating interest in the Pluto Train 2 Joint Venture to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).

This follows Woodside’s announcement on 15 November 2021 that it had entered into a sale and purchase agreement with GIP. On 22 November 2021 the Pluto Train 2 Joint Venture announced its final investment decision, contemporaneously with the final investment decision for the Scarborough development.

Pluto Train 2 is a key component of the Scarborough development and includes a new LNG train and domestic gas facilities to be constructed at the existing Pluto LNG onshore facility. The estimated capital expenditure for the development of Pluto Train 2 from the effective date of 1 October 2021 is US$5.6 billion (100% project).

The joint venture arrangements require GIP to fund its 49% share of capital expenditure and an additional amount of construction capital expenditure of approximately US$822 million. Woodside’s capital expenditure will be reduced accordingly.

The first LNG cargo from Pluto Train 2 is targeted for 2026.

Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill said she looked forward to developing Pluto Train 2 in close collaboration with GIP.

“GIP brings established, global capabilities to the Pluto Train 2 Joint Venture which will support delivery of a world-class project.

“The development of Scarborough gas through Pluto Train 2 is expected to deliver significant value to our shareholders, create thousands of jobs and deliver energy to domestic and international customers for decades to come,” she said.