Bloomberg: AWE Targets Early Output at Gas Discovery in Australia

AWE Ltd. (AWE) may start initial production at its Senecio and Waitsia fields as soon as 2016 after announcing what may be the largest onshore natural gas discovery in Western Australia since the 1960s.

The project could supply as much as 10 percent of the West Australian market in the next 10 to 20 years, Bruce Clement, managing director of the Sydney-based oil and gas explorer, said today in a phone interview.

AWE is seeking to tap increasing natural gas demand in Western Australia state and take advantage of a shift in the mining industry away from high-cost diesel fuel, he said. Senecio and Waitsia may hold 360 billion cubic feet of gas, and potentially more, AWE said last week.

“This is another potentially significant supplier into the market and will diversify sources of gas,” Clement said. “And it confirms there is opportunity onshore Western Australia to bring more gas to market.”

AWE holds 50 percent of the venture, and Origin Energy Ltd. owns the rest. While AWE is seeking to bring some gas to the market “early” in 2016, more significant production is expected to occur later, Clement said. MORE