The Vic/P47 exploration permit contains the Judith and Moby gas discoveries. The Judith gas resource was certified by Gaffney Cline & Associates in 2008 (see details below) and both Judith and Moby are in close proximity to existing or planned infrastructure in adjacent licences.
The permit is located in the offshore Gippsland Basin, approximately 10 km from the coast and south of the Victorian town of Orbost, with water depths ranging up to 80 metres. The permit was renewed for a new 5 year term in November 2009.
The renewed permit area is approximately 200 sq km, comprising 3 graticular blocks which include the Judith and Moby Gas Fields. This area contains approximately 160 sq km of existing 3D seismic data and a commitment to reprocess this data is included in the terms of renewal for Vic/P47.
Judith Gas Resource Certification
Judith-1was drilled by Shell in 1989, but not production tested or appraised. The Vic/P47 joint venture has invested in a complete review of the discovery and during June 2008, consultants Gaffney, Cline & Associates (GCA) completed an independent resource certification of the Judith Gas Field and associated prospects in Vic/P47.
GCA's certification provides independent confirmation that, subject to successful appraisal, the Judith Gas Discovery has the resource volume potential to underpin a commercial development.
GCA reported that a gross gas column of 290 metres can be interpreted from Judith-1 electric log data and GCA's petrophysical analysis indicated 135.5 metres of net gas pay in the Judith-1 well.
GCA estimated a 'high' or upside case of 1,735 Bscf (Contingent + Prospective Recoverable Gas Resources for the Greater Judith Area).
By way of comparison and as an indication of potential commerciality, 22 km to the west of Judith, the Longtom Field has commenced production for Nexus Energy Ltd. Longtom was developed on the basis of a contract to sell a similar volume to the Judith best case estimate, in that case 350 PJ (approximate conversion = 325 BScf) of sales gas.
Please see BAS's 20 June 2008 ASX release, available on this website, for more details of the GCA report and for an explanation of abbreviations and resource categories quoted here.