The United Kingdom Government has shown its confidence in Triangle Energy, offering it a North Sea license containing five prospects with at least 269 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas, along with multiple shallow leads.
The acreage, which will be operated by joint venture (JV) partner Orcadian Energy with a 50 per cent interest, bolsters Triangle’s global portfolio as the West Perth-based company matures plans to drill two wells in the onshore Perth Basin this year. The newly-acquired North Sea acreage covers nine offshore blocks and was issued by the regulator as part of the second tranche of the 33rd oil and gas licensing round.
Triangle says the group of five existing gas prospects are spearheaded by the Glenlough and Breckagh prospects, which both show brightening of seismic amplitudes believed to correspond with gas-bearing sandstones.
New seismic data to be purchased over the prospects will allow the JV to accurately map their lateral extent and reservoir thickness ahead of reassessing their prospective resources.
Management says the existing 2D and 3D seismic data also shows shallow gas exploration opportunities defined by bright amplitudes analogous to the A12 and B13 gas fields, which are flowing gas commercially from the Dutch section of the North Sea.
The fields, which were taken into production in 2007 and 2011, respectively, and are currently operated by Petrogas, were discovered more than 20 years ago, but were thought to be non-commercial at that time. The gas is brought onstream using a central processing platform with compression facilities to address the low reservoir pressures offered by the shallow Pleistocene-age reservoirs.
We now have a diversified asset base, all in tier-one locations. We look forward to advancing the UK assets whilst preparing to drill our exciting prospects in the Perth Basin this year. Triangle Energy managing director Conrad Todd
Todd also said the company was expecting further announcements from the North Sea Transition Authority this year regarding other potential license gains. He expected costs for the new acquisitions in the next three years to be “modest”.
Triangle says it will now confirm its forward work program with the regulator prior to finalising the award of the new licence. The company expects the first three years of work to consist mainly of geotechnical studies.
The newly-acquired acreage complements the company’s prospectivity assessment of five blocks in the UK west of Shetlands it holds as part of a 50:50 JV with British company Athena Exploration. The blocks contain the Cragganmore gas field that is defined by three wells and has a best-estimate gross contingent resource (2C) of 527Bcf of gas.
The JV believes there is exploration potential at other prospects already identified within the blocks and plans to reprocess seismic data as a first step towards maturing its subsurface models.
Back on Triangle’s home turf in Western Australia, the company is preparing to test two prospects – with a well each – in the onshore Perth Basin about 50km east of the coastal town of Dongara, where it holds a 50 per cent operating interest in both the L7 and EP437 exploration permits.
The first well is planned for the Booth prospect, which has a P50 resource of 279Bcf of gas within the Kingia-High Cliff reservoirs and the potential for another 19Bcf of gas or 8.5 million barrels (MMbbls) of oil in the overlying Dongara sandstone.
The Booth-1 well will also pass through the Cattamarra reservoirs that contain a P50 resource estimate of 2.7MMbbls of oil, with another 3.2MMbbls tied up in the Booth Footwall reservoir section adding to the prospectivity.
Following drilling at Booth, Triangle says it plans to drill its Becos oil prospect that has a low-side estimate of 1MMbbls of oil, a best-estimate of 5MMbbls and high-side estimate of 21MMbbls.
The company has farmed out a 50 per cent interest in both the L7 and EP 437 permits to Talon Energy, which is now part-owned by Strike Energy and New Zealand Oil and Gas with 25 per cent each, and its net cost of the first three wells in the basin will be about $4 million.
While Triangle takes aim at striking oil in WA, it will be also busy maturing its overseas portfolio as it awaits the cash from the sale of its interest in the Cliff Head operation in waters off Dongara – a deal that will net the company a cool $15 million as the field is transitioned from hydrocarbon production to carbon capture and storage (CCS).
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