Oz Cue Applies for Site Survey Ahead of Ironbark Drilling
Cue Energy has applied to Australia's National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) for a geotechnical and geophysical site survey ahead of drilling at the Ironbark prospect in WA-359-P in the Carnarvon Basin, offshore Western Australia.
This activity is a pre-drilling site survey and aims to confirm that a future well location is positioned on flat seabed, in an area free of seabed debris and shallow gas pockets, NOPSEMA said April 8.
This is a small scale geotechnical and geophysical site survey and the activity will take place in the Carnarvon Basin, Block WA-359-P. One vessel will be used for geophysical acquisition (multibeam, side-scan sonar, sub-bottom profiler, magnetometer, high resolution reflection imaging) and geotechnical sampling (piston or gravity coring and box core sampling), NOPSEMA added.
BP Developments Australia has contracted the Ocean Apex semisubmersible drilling rig, operated by Diamond Drilling, for drilling the Ironbark prospect, joint partner Cue Energy said in February.
The Ironbark-1 well, will be the first test of the Ironbark prospect, Cue said. Drilling is expected to begin in late 2020, following completion of the Ocean Apex’s other commitments.