Beach Energy completes “largest” drill campaign in Otway Basin history

BEACH Energy has wrapped up an 18-month seven-well drill campaign in the Otway Basin, which the company said was the largest in the region’s history.

Taking place in federal waters between 32 to 80 kilometres from Port Campbell, two wells are already online, another four are due to start feeding in mid-2023, and another exploration well is in the pre-feed stage.

Beach drilled its first well in February 2021 and finished its seventh earlier this month, the only Australian offshore operator to drill continuously through the COVID-19 pandemic.

The program covered three areas known as the Artisan, Geographe and Thylacine fields, but Beach also has another nearshore well in state waters, Enterprise, that is similarly expected to come online next winter.

“The collective effort has seen Beach deliver new gas at a time when it is desperately needed,” chief executive officer Morné Engelbrecht said.

Mr Engelbrecht described the completion of the company’s first offshore drilling campaign as a significant achievement that “has materially de-risked the Otway program and proven Beach’s offshore operating capabilities.”

A spokesperson for the company said 100 per cent of the gas produced went into the eastern gas market for domestic retailers and will constitute between 13 per cent to in excess of 20 per cent of the state’s existing gas output.

The recent works were due for completion a year earlier but the project was delayed after the company terminated its contract with owners of the Ocean Onyx drill rig because it had arrived late to the state in April 2020.

The lit up rig was spotted from shore by Kennett River locals late on Monday last week as it was towed towards the heads and into Port Phillip Bay.

Two Geelong-based tug supply vessels, Siem Amethyst and Siem Aquamarine, navigated the Ocean Onyx rig through the Port Phillip channel the next day.

Expansion of the oil and gas sector in the Otway Basin has been a politically sensitive issue for both Labor and the Coalition at state and federal levels, particularly during the recent election.

The Greens, who increased their numbers in both the lower and upper houses of federal Parliament, have signalled their intention to push forward with a bill seeking to amend existing oil and gas legislation that would exclude future exploration and extraction in the Otway Basin.