Cooper Completes Oz Sole-3 Flow-back Operations
Cooper Energy has completed flow-back operations at the first of two production wells at the Sole gas field in Australia’s Gippsland Basin with the well performance in line with expectations, the company said July 6.
“We now have a well in place, ready to go, with production capability exceeding project requirements. Reservoir quality, production performance and the gas composition are all in line with pre-drill expectations,” Cooper’s managing director David Maxwell said.
Post-test analysis of the measured data from the well, Sole-3, has confirmed its capability to produce above the maximum plant throughput rate of 68 TJ per day, Cooper said.
The flow rate was constrained by surface well test equipment to a maximum of about 48mn feet3 per day, it said.
Sole-3 will now be suspended so that the pipeline connection can be made to link the field with the Orbost Gas Processing Plant. The pipelay operation is to commence in October, Cooper said.
“We now move on to resuming Sole-4 and completing the project’s drilling requirement,” Maxwell said.
Cooper, which holds 100% equity in the Sole gas field, is undertaking the A$355mn ($264mn) offshore development, while APA Group is conducting a A$250mn upgrade to the onshore Orbost Gas Processing Plant to enable processing of gas from sole.
The field is being developed to supply about 24 PJ of gas per year from mid-2019, with about 75% of the field’s reserves contracted to a range of utility and industrial customers including AGL Energy, EnergyAustralia, Alinta Energy and O-I.