THE Beach Energy Haselgrove-4 conventional gas well was “spud” late Wednesday afternoon, officially signalling the start of the resource giant’s latest drilling works in the Limestone Coast.
The well, located around seven kilometres south of Penola, is expected to take around six to eight weeks to drill and will target natural gas reservoirs of sawpit sandstone and pretty hill formations close to four kilometres below the surface in the Otway Basin.
Breaking ground in 2017, Beach’s previous endeavor – Haselgrove-3 – proved fruitful for the energy giant, with Beach Energy South East regional manager Jon Conti stating the well gave “quite a good result”.
“Beach has been drilling in the Otway Basin for around 50 years and have had many exploration wells over the last few years,” he said.
“Our main success was Haselgrove-3 which flowed 26 million cubic feet of natural gas per day,” Mr Conti said.
“Haselgrove-4 is the follow up appraisal well, so we are testing the same reservoir and hope to ascertain how big that resource is.”
Haselgrove-3 is the first in a two-well operation which includes the nearby Dombey-1 site.
Mr Conti said once drilling is complete, the rig will then move to the Dombey-1 site before heading into Victoria.
In a coup for the region’s gas sector, rehabilitation works on the existing Katnook Gas Plant – which received $6m in State Government funding – are ahead of schedule.
“At the moment we have been through the whole demolition process with works about to start on setting up the pad,” he said.
“Then the facility will start installation around September with the first gas planned to be delivered around the South East in February.
“The Katnook plant will process approximately 10 terajoules of gas per day for the region.”
With Monday’s announcement of three new exploratory licences in the South East, Mr Conti said the gas heavyweight supported further development in the region.
The newly released permits, which encompass almost the entire Limestone Coast, will be open to bidding until November.
“Beach Energy supports the State Government’s measures to further develop natural gas in South Australia,” Mr Conti said.
“As a company there are processes in place for when permits become available.
“We have a team in Adelaide who look at geology, geophysics, the commercial implications and everything that comes along with a potential bid which takes a number of months.
“At this stage I am not aware whether Beach will plac a bid for the newly opened licenses but these are areas that have been explored previously and have been under different licenses in the past.
“Roughly 39 exploration wells have been drilled across those permits, so they’re not new sites, just more like a rehash of existing areas that have not been explored in recent times.”
Following the release, Member for Mount Gambier Troy Bell urged the State Government to reignite the mining debate.
Mr Bell said the contentious Mining Bill must now return to parliament after being left in limbo, stating it was crucial legislation embedded the protection of farmers and landholders against invasive mining activities while supporting the Government’s right to release new permits.
This has also sparked outrage within community, with the Limestone Coast Protection Alliance (LCPA) cementing its stance against gas mining in the region.
Spokesperson Merilyn Paxton said the alliance encouraged the community to ring or write to Minister for Energy and Mining Dan van Holst Pellekaan in the fight against further gas fields.
