Gas reserves (WestSide share)
6.5 PJ (1P); 258 PJ (2P); 617 PJ (3P)
Ownership
WestSide: 51%
Mitsui: 49%
About Meridian SeamGas
WestSide completed the transition from explorer to producer in July 2010 after joining with Mitsui E&P Australia Pty Ltd (Mitsui) to acquire the Dawson CSG fields near Moura in Queensland’s Bowen Basin from existing owners Anglo American (Anglo) and Mitsui Moura Investment Pty Ltd (MMI).
Renamed Meridian SeamGas, the gasfields commenced operations in the late 1990s as Australia's first CSG producer and comprise a range of assets including a petroleum lease, gas rights in mining leases and gas compression and pipeline infrastructure connected to Queensland’s commercial gas network.
WestSide assembled a team of experienced gas field operators and on 1 July 2010, commenced operating the field which is currently producing approximately 10 Terajoules (TJ) of gas per day under contract. A production drilling and well workover program now underway aims to increase gas output toward 25 TJ a day by late 2012.
While Meridian SeamGas has contracts to take up to 25TJ a day the pipeline infrastructure has total capacity of 60 TJ a day while the existing compression equipment has total capacity of 30 TJ a day. This excess capacity provides the joint venture with an opportunity to increase production at relatively low cost.
Net to WestSide, Meridian SeamGas has certified Proved (1P) gas reserves of 6.5 petajoules (PJ), 258 PJ of Proved and Probable (2P) reserves and 617 PJ of Proved, Probable and Possible (3P) reserves. WestSide is planning a second stage of the joint venture's reserves expansion program in Calendar 2012 to increase 1P reserves and expand gross 2P reserves by up to a further 200 PJ.
About the CSG gasfields
There can be as many as 20 seams within the Baralaba Coal Measures and Kaloola Formation present within the Meridian CSG gasfields which cover an area of approximately 206km2 and are located near Moura about 160 km west of Gladstone.
Net coal thickness within the fields varies and is dependent on the thickness of coal portions within an individual seam having a density less than 1.75 grams per cubic centimetre. Depending on the number of seams which increases toward the west, net coal thickness can range from around 15 metres to as much as 30 metres.
The seams outcrop within the Dawson mine area and can reach depths of 1200-1500 metres towards the western side of the Petroleum Lease.
Gas content also tends to vary from seam to seam but is assumed to be approximately 13 cubic meters a tonne as a result of the main work done so far to access the B, C and D seams. The coal seams are considered to be “tight” with lower permeability or around one Millidarcy so lateral in-seam drilling is favoured to obtain best results.
The gasfields have a total of 79 production wells, not all of which are producing. The wells are connected up to the compression and transportation infrastructure via some 160km of low and high pressure pipeline.
WestSide's joint venture with Mitsui E& P Australia has provided an opportunity to access international LNG markets through Mitsui's global networks. The joint venture will also consider supplying new domestic contacts from 2015-16 once the current supply contracts in place expire.