Oz Beach, Mitsui Sign Perth Basin Agreements
Beach Energy has executed agreements with AWE (Beharra Springs), a part of Mitsui E&P Australia, to move to 50:50 ownership of production licences L11 and L22 (Beharra Springs), exploration permit EP 320 and pipeline licence PL 18 in Western Australia's Perth Basin, it said July 3.
The previous ownership structure for these permits was Beach 67% and Mitsui 33%. Beach will retain operatorship of the permits. The transaction has an effective date of January 1, 2019 and is expected to be completed during Q1 2020, subject to satisfaction of various conditions including regulatory approval, Beach said.
Following completion of the transaction, Mitsui and Beach will each hold a 50% interest across all joint Perth Basin interests. Mitsui remains operator of licences L1 and L2, containing the Waitsia gas field, Beach said.
Meanwhile, Beach together with Mitsui has signed a gas sales agreement with Alinta Energy for the supply of up to 20 terajoules/day (18.89mn ft3/day) of gas from the Waitsia field. The contract will commence July 1, 2020 with a duration of 4.5 years.
Beach said that the Waitsia joint venture (Beach 50% and Mitsui 50%) has approved the expansion of the Xyris gas processing facility from the existing 10 TJ/day capacity (Waitsia Gas Project Stage 1) to 20 TJ/day output (Waitsia Gas Project Stage 1 expansion). Beach and Mitsui are progressing plans for further expansion of Waitsia production capacity (Waitsia Gas Project Stage 2).
Beach said that Feed for Waitsia Gas Project Stage 2 is complete and EPC tenders are in progress. Development options include the construction of a new 100 to 250 TJ/day gas processing facility and the drilling and connection of additional wells to deliver conditioned gas into the DBNGP. Stage 1 expansion activities will incorporate a large diameter pipeline connecting the Xyris facility to the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline (DBNGP) with capacity for Waitsia Gas Project Stage 2 production volumes.