BP Spuds Ironbark Well Off West Oz
BP has begun drilling an exploration well in the Carnarvon basin offshore western Australia targeting the giant Ironbark gas prospect, its Australian venture partner Cue Energy reported on November 2.
Ironbark has a best estimate of 15 trillion ft3 (425bn m3) of possible recoverable gas. BP has 42.5% interest in the WA-359-P permit containing the prospect, while Cue has 21.5%, Beach Energy 21% and New Zealand Oil & Gas 15%. Cue brought the other companies on board as partners last year.
The companies got regulatory clearance for the Ironbark-1 well in September. The well, previously estimated to cost $11mn, will be sunk to a depth of 5,335 m. Drilling is expected to take 70-90 days to complete, Cue said.
Cue CEO Matthew Boyall said the well could be "company changing" if successful. "Drilling of the Ironbark-1 well is the culmination of significant work undertaken by Cue to explore and understand the Deep Mungaroo gas play in the Carnarvon Basin and attract partners BP, Beach Energy and New Zealand Oil & Gas to form the current joint venture," he said.
Ironbark is some 50 km from the North Rankin platform, which is tied to the 12mn metric ton/year North West Shelf (NWS) LNG project. NWS is controlled by BP, BHP Billiton, Chevron, Japan Australia LNG, Shell and Woodside Energy. It has been exporting gas for three decades, but the Woodside-owned fields that supply its gas are entering decline.