OIL

Lower sands at Crux-2 likely to be gas-charged

NEXUS Energy says “encouraging” elevated gas readings have been recorded while drilling the Crux-2 appraisal well in Browse Basin exploration permit AC/P32.

Lower sands at Crux-2 likely to be gas-charged

The Melbourne-based company yesterday said the well was drilling ahead at a depth of 3922m and was expected to reach total depth by the end of the day. Logging of data was also due to begin.

Nexys reported last week that the well had failed to intersect an interpreted higher reservoir, but it now appears to have sucessfully found the lower reservoir.

The question remains whether a sidetrack should be run to find the upper reservoir. If that reservoir is not found, the contingent field reserves of 71MMbbl condensate would need to be downgraded.

For now, Nexus said Crux-2 has intersected an inter-bedded sand/shale interval with a gross thickness of about 70m above the interpreted field gas-water contact.

“Elevated gas readings recorded while drilling indicate that these sands are likely to be gas charged,” it said.

“Whilst these results are encouraging important factors such as net sand thickness, porosity, permeability and gas saturation can only be determined from a full suite of wireline logs which will be run over the next few days.”

An interpretation of how these sandstones can be correlated with the sandstone intervals in the Crux-1 discovery well will not be possible until wireline log data is available.

The company said the decision on where to sidetrack the well so it can be completed as a future injection well would be made once the log data from it had been fully evaluated.

Crux-2 was designed to test the northeastern extent of the Crux gas/condensate field to test an upside scenario and expand the volume of known hydrocarbon resources to the interpreted limit of the field.

Last week, Nexus said the well had failed to intersect the uppermost “A” gas reservoir structure encountered in Crux-1.

Its failure to find the reservoir it was seeking suggests the revised estimate of a contingent recoverable condensate resource of 71 million barrels (MMbbl) of gas condensate may be over-optimistic. The previous estimate had been 40MMbbl.

Crux is 100% owned by Nexus. But the company has sold the rights to the gas (excluding condensate) in the field to Shell for $US40 million ($A51.3 million). The gas sales agreement provides for Nexus to be able to execute a condensate recycle project until December 31, 2020 at which time Shell will take ownership of the permit and will be able to extract the gas and any remaining condensate.

Nexus has previously said it expected to sanction the project by mid-year, with first condensate being produced during the third quarter of 2009.

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