Australia's Beach announces first gas from Enterprise field

Sydney-listed Beach Energy announced on June 13 the successful connection of the Enterprise gas field to the Otway gas plant in Victoria, with the first sales gas delivered on June 12.

Discovered in 2021, the Enterprise field resulted in a 2P gas and associated liquids reserves booking of 34mn barrels of oil equivalent (mn boe) gross (20mn boe net to Beach), including 2P gas reserves of 161 petajoules gross.

In January this year, Beach signed a gas sales agreement to supply Origin Energy with gas from the Enterprise field until the end of 2026.

“Enterprise is a critical new source of gas which will help support the security of energy for the East Coast market for years to come,” said Beach CEO Brett Woods. “It reinforces the importance of ongoing exploration and development in the Otway basin to support the rollout of renewables, household energy needs, and manufacturing in Victoria.”

The Enterprise wellsite is located onshore, 3.5 km from Port Campbell and 8 km from the Otway gas plant. The well was drilled directionally to target the Enterprise gas field, located 2.5 km from the shoreline, with a total vertical depth of 2.5 km.

Key highlights of the development include 45 approvals and consents obtained across 14 regulators and departments and the first Victorian production license granted in 10 years.

Earlier this week, Beach announced it expects to recognize an impairment charge for the fiscal year ending June 2024 (FY24) due to a reassessment of its Bass Basin assets in Australia and the Taranaki Basin project in New Zealand. The company anticipates booking a non-cash impairment of A$365-A$400mn ($241-$264mn) before tax in its FY24 full-year results, set to be released on August 12.