Oz Cooper Restarts Casino, Prepares for Sole

Australian Cooper Energy has completed the workover of its Casino-5 production well offshore Victoria in the Otway Basin, allowing production to restart, the company said April 26. It will now tow the drill rig Diamond Offshore Ocean Monarch to its Sole project.

“Gas production from Casino-5 resumed on 25 April 2018 at flow rates in line with expectations. The duration between rig arrival and departure at Casino-5 was 46 days, with operations interrupted on a number of occasions by unusually heavy ocean conditions,” Cooper said. “Gas production from the other wells in the field – Netherby-1, Henry-2 and Casino-4 – has been ongoing during the workover operations,” it added.

Cooper produces about 7 PJ per annum from the Otway Basin, most of which comes from the Casino Henry gas project, which Cooper operates. It holds a 50% interest in the Casino Henry gas project, along with other interest holders Mitsui E&P Australia (25%) and AWE Limited (25%).

It is also working on the Sole Gas Project in the Gippsland Basin – also offshore Victoria – and an upgrade of the Orbost Gas Processing Facility to supply about 24 PJ/year from March 2019.

“The delay to the commencement of Sole-3 due to the heavy weather at Casino does not impact the timeline for completion of the Sole Gas Project. It is also noteworthy that the location of the Sole wells in the Gippsland Basin is significantly more sheltered from extreme weather conditions than the Casino field in the Otway Basin,” the company said.