South Australian oil and gas explorer Beach Energy has announced a significant new discovery in the Cooper Basin.
SMH reported managing director Reg Nelson spoke about the find at a business lunch yesterday, and explained the deposit of “gas soaked sandstone” of 600m had a vertical depth of one kilometre across an area of 5000 square kilometres.
“We estimate possibly there is 600 trillion cubic feet or more of gas,” Nelson said.
“To put that in perspective, in 45 years, Cooper Basin has produced 6 trillion cubic feet of gas. Australia effectively uses a volume of 3 trillion cubic feet of gas a year.”
The discovery is covered by a joint venture with Chevron who own the acreage, with an estimated $500 million expected to be spent on proving up the reserves.
A two-stage work program will allow Chevron until March to commit funds beyond an initially agreed $190 million, with ownership to revert to Beach Energy if they decide against further involvement.
Image: SMH