Oz Central Spuds Queensland CBM Well
Australia's Central Petroleum June 30 spudded Range-4, the first well in the Project Range exploration programme, it said July 1.
Project Range is a 50:50 joint venture comprising Central and a wholly owned subsidiary of Incitec Pivot in ATP 2031 in which Incitec will contribute up to A$20mn (US$14mn) of the exploration and appraisal costs. ATP 2031 is a 77 km2 permit located in Queensland’s Surat Basin that was granted in August 2018.
The joint venture is targeting a coalbed methane development of the prospective Walloons coals, which have been developed extensively in Queensland over the last decade, Central said.
The exploration programme consists of four to five wells, with each well being drilled to gather geological data including coal depth, thickness and permeability. To minimise costs the wells will be drilled as slimholes which will be plugged and abandoned once the data has been gathered, the company said.
“One well may be retained as a groundwater monitoring bore to support future development approvals. The drilling of the fifth well is contingent on the results obtained from the first four wells. The duration of the drilling programme is expected to be 8 weeks,” Central said.