Senex Books Contingent Oil Resource in Cooper-Eromanga Basin
Senex Energy Limited (Senex) disclosed Friday that it has quantified a significant contingent oil resource within the Murta Formation of South Australia’s southern Cooper-Eromanga Basin that represents a material opportunity to deliver oil production from previously overlooked assets.
Senex engaged Dallas-based consulting firm DeGolyer and MacNaughton to undertake a regional study of Senex-operated assets where the potential for Murta Formation oil production had been identified and tested from conventional wells, and has been shown to be viable. As a result of the study, the following net 1C, 2C and 3C contingent resources have been estimated within the Murta Formation:
Net Murta Formation contingent resources and oil in place Oct. 31:
- Contingent resource (recoverable oil, million barrels): 1.6 (1C); 4.9 (2C); 10.4 (3C)
- Oil in place (million barrels): 14.3 (1C); 39.3 (2C); 82.6 (3C)
- Average recovery factor applied: 11.5 percent (1C); 12.4 percent (2C); 12.6 percent (3C)
About the Murta Formation Reservoir
The Murta Formation is a regionally extensive package of thinly interbedded sandstone shale that lies above the primary production reservoirs of the Cooper-Eromanga Basin. The formation is commonly found to be highly oil saturated with net pay intervals of 13 feet (4 meters) to 52 feet (16 meters) in thickness.
Oil has been produced from the Murta Formation at Senex-operated fields with initial flow rates ranging from 20 to 200 barrels of oil per day. Production from Senex-operated fields such as Mirage and Padulla demonstrates that while initial production rates are typically modest, the long term stabilised rates are likely to decline at only 3-4 percent per annum, providing consistent production and cashflow.
A technical review of the formation in Senex-operated blocks in the southern Cooper-Eromanga Basin revealed large volumes of oil in place. The study also showed that in many places the formation can be classified as an unconventional resource, where the use of modern production enhancement techniques, such as those used in North America, will materially increase Murta Formation recovery factors, production rates and overall field economics.
Senex’s current 30 well drilling program, which commenced in the southern Cooper-Eromanga Basin permits, has collected information required to further evaluate the formation. Core was cut through the Murta Formation during recent drilling at multiple locations in order to quantify net oil pay, porosity, oil saturations and rock-strength characteristics. The cores were highly saturated with oil which, in many cases, conventional wireline logging could not identify.
Forward Work Program
Further analysis of data is expected to increase the resource across other Senex-operated fields where the potential for Murta Formation oil production has been identified, including Burruna, Fury and Worrior oil fields.
Subject to regulatory approvals and rig availability, Senex plans to drill a pilot horizontal well to test the productive capacity of the reservoir. The Murta Formation in this region is expected to be intersected at a depth of approximately 4,265 to 4,593 feet, or 1,300 to 1,400 meters (true vertical depth). The pilot well is expected to assess a horizontal section of 3,280 plus feet 1,000 plus meters, with initial results expected this financial year.
A Long Term Oil Business
Senex Managing Director and CEO Ian Davies said oil production from the Murta Formation had the potential to underpin significant new production and cashflow generation.
“Comprehensive technical studies by our exploration team and Degolyer and MacNaughton have conclusively demonstrated that the Murta Formation is a large and relatively untapped oil resource that is pervasive across Senex permits within the South Australian Cooper-Eromanga Basin.
“The estimation of 4.9 million barrels of 2C contingent resources with up to 83 million barrels of oil in place heralds the start of a multi-year program to test and develop not just the Murta Formation but also other previously overlooked oil reservoirs across Senex’s extensive portfolio of permits,” Davies said.
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