Cooper to Invest A$37mn in Oz Minerva Gas Plant

Sydney-listed Cooper and partner Mitsui will invest $37mn (US$26mn) to upgrade the Minerva gas plant in Victoria, Cooper said on July 20 in a statement. They have already have spent A$17.8mn purchasing the plant and on front end engineering and design work.

Cooper and Mitsui acquired the Minerva gas plant in December 2019 to process gas from Casino, Henry and Netherby fields and new discoveries such as Annie. Cooper is the operator of the gas plant with 50% stake.

“This investment decision represents an important milestone in Cooper Energy’s continuing growth as a safe, competitive, efficient and reliable developer and marketer of new gas supplies for homes and businesses in south-east Australia,” Cooper managing director, David Maxwell, said. The infrastructure works at the Minerva will enable the supply of 16 petajoules of currently undeveloped gas.

The project will draw gas from four offshore wells (Casino-4, Casino-5, Henry-2, and Netherby-1) into the Minerva plant via a pipeline tie-in and minor modifications. “Following the completion and performance testing, first gas is expected within the September quarter 2021 with this expectation incorporating allowances for uncertainty from Covid-19 as it is presently understood. It is possible further restrictions and supply chain disruption arising from Covid-19 could impose delays to this schedule,” Cooper said.

The Minerva gas plant is near Port Campbell, Victoria and has the capacity to process up to 150 terajoules/day. It will be renamed as the Athena gas plant in recognition of the expansion to its role from a dedicated plant to the now depleted Minerva gas field to a hub for supply from existing offshore Otway gas fields and future discoveries, Cooper said.