Beetaloo - the relevant bits22 Apr 2019 19:45
From Beetaloo to the Bight the search is on for the next gas frontier
By Cole Latimer
April 23, 2019 — 12.11am
edited -
“We used to be almost self-sufficient when it came to gas but now we aren’t, especially as Victoria’s Bass Strait [offshore region] has declined,” Federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan said. "We'd like to see new areas explored."
He said Australia's frontiers could still hold decades of gas and it was time to access them to avoid an energy crisis.
But where could these new sources of gas be found?
Unexplored regions like the Northern Territory's Beetaloo and the Great Australian Bight off South Australia's coast have been named as the frontier regions to watch by the industry and Mr Canavan.
“The Beetaloo Basin and the Great Australian Bight, that’s real elephant country,” junior gas company Senex Energy's chief executive, Ian Davies, said.
'Elephant country' is a resources industry term for a region with potential risk but high possible returns on large projects.
Early estimates for the Beetaloo's prospect run as high as 6.6 trillion cubic feet of gas: enough to power Australia for about 400 years.
“It will be too big even for the bigger players in the region. Billions of dollars will be spent there,” Mr Davies said.
The gas field is located in the Northern Territory, about 600 kilometres south of Darwin, and has drawn comparisons with the overperforming Marcellus field in the US, which accounted for a quarter of the country's gas.
There has been little to no development of the Beetaloo thanks to the NT's recent moratorium on fracking, which was lifted only in 2018.
The removal of the moratorium has opened the door to operations in the region, with energy company Origin already roping off 18,500 square kilometres in which to play.
Mr Davies said conditions looked promising but it was still high risk as there was little infrastructure to support development of the region notwithstanding newly developed gas pipelines linking the Northern Territory and Queensland.
cont..
Credit Suisse energy analyst Saul Kavonic said frontier regions have potential but existing fields should not be ignored.
He said most exploration dollars were still being spent in developed regions, such as Western Australia’s Carnarvon Basin and Victoria’s Otway Basin and Bass Strait.
"Results for the Beetaloo are expected in the second half of this year and they could make or break it," Mr Kavonic said.
end
Erratum - the 400 years reference (6.6 tcf) is complete and total bollox but that's contemporary journalism for yer...crap
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/from-beetaloo-to-the-bight-the-search-is-on-for-the-next-gas-frontier-20190411-p51d9h.html
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