Central Petroleum JV to drill two new wells in Northern Territory

Central Petroleum and its Mereenie joint venture partners have approved the drilling of two development wells at the Mereenie oil and gas field in the Northern Territory, the company announced on August 15. This decision follows the recent gas sales agreements with the Northern Territory government.

The new Mereenie development wells are expected to increase field production capacity from the current 27 TJ/day to over 30 TJ/day, producing at least 25 PJ of gas over their lifetime. The gas from these new wells will be sold under the recently executed gas sales agreement with the Northern Territory government, which can be expanded by up to 6 TJ/day following the successful completion of the wells.

“These development activities are in response to strong market signals arising from Central’s recently completed gas marketing campaign,” Central Petroleum stated. The company's 25% share of the costs for this programme is expected to total approximately A$8mn ($5.3mn), which can be funded from existing cash reserves.

Central has contracted Ventia Australia to drill the two new Mereenie wells, West Mereenie 29 and 30, using Rig 101. Drilling is anticipated to commence around the end of this year, with gas production expected to begin in the first half of 2025.

The Mereenie field is the largest onshore gas field in the Northern Territory. Central Petroleum is the operator of the Mereenie joint venture and manages the gas sales function on behalf of Horizon, New Zealand Oil & Gas, and Cue under a joint marketing agreement.