Senex Energy commences drilling at Cooper Basin in Queensland

Australian oil and gas company Senex Energy has announced the commencement of oil and gas drilling programme of fiscal year 2015 at the Cooper Basin, Queensland.

The drilling programme features a multi-well oil campaign, including exploration, appraisal and development opportunities and a high-impact unconventional gas exploration well.

Senex managing director and CEO Ian Davies said: “We are pleased to be back on the ground in the Cooper Basin, demonstrating our ability to execute work efficiently, safely and at lowest cost.

“The Cooper Basin remains core to Senex’s growth strategy and we will continue to deploy capital at a moderate rate on high-value opportunities, targeting reserves replacement and production.”

The programme's first two wells are located on Worrior and Spitfire fields.

Worrior-11 is a development well that targets oil formations located at the lower Birkhead and Hutton horizons. The well is expected to be spud in mid-December. Thereafter, the rig will move to Spitfire-8, a step-out appraisal well that assesses the extent of the Birkhead reservoir.

All six wells accessing the Birkhead reservoir at the Spitfire field continue to produce oil, and two yet to be drilled will increase overall field recoveries, leveraging current surface facilities.

The second phase of the campaign will involve exploration activities in PEL182 and is scheduled to begin from early 2017.

The first wells, Sparta-1 and Hoplite-1, will be drilled according to the demarcations set by the Jasmine 3D seismic survey and target the Namur oil horizon.

Senex intends to prove oil migration and exhibit the continuation of the western flank oil fairway to the location with negligible well control in this campaign.

To explore unconventional gas potential, pre-drill operations will commence on the Silver Star-1 gas exploration well in January 2017.

The Easternwell 106 rig will be used to fulfill the well's technical specifications.

Silver Star-1 is a high-impact gas exploration well that would target basin-centred gas in the Permian sandstones of the Patchawarra Trough.

The campaign plans to drill to a depth of around 3,600m with a potential lateral section of up to 1,500m. Senex estimated the total cost of the well to be approximately $15m.