Blue Energy (ASX: BLU) has positioned itself to support Queensland's new Energy Road Map with a string of successes in recent months.
Released in early October, the government initiative is targeting increased capacity of gas and electricity generation between now and 2040.
It is a perfect fit for Blue and its development strategies which have received a boost this year on the back of growing support from the Sunshine State.
PL-1034 Lease Permit
Blue’s September quarterly report also highlighted its receipt of petroleum lease PL-1034 over the Sapphire Block in the Bowen Basin.
The permit comes after Blue won a long-standing legal battle that saw the Queensland Land Court grant it permission to drill up to 117 new wells at Sapphire over the 20-year life of the production licence.
Blue is now pursuing additional environmental requirements for amended authority – including matters relating to baseline groundwater and fauna surveys – ahead of any development of the field.
Queensland Gas Supply
Sapphire sits near a major gas hub, which will enable the company to quickly add important new gas supplies to the Queensland market—with several key agreements already established.
The Sapphire pilot project is immediately adjacent to the Moranbah gas project (MGP), while Blue has a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) to supply gas to Queensland Pacific Minerals Energy's (QPME) proposed Nickel refinery in Townsville.
Blue and QPME have executed a separate non-binding MoU to supply pilot gas to the MGP from the Sapphire pilot via a proposed pipeline connection.
Successful Capital Raising
Blue enjoyed some corporate success as well during the quarter, raising $3.2 million via a two-tranche placement to institutional and sophisticated investors, quickly followed by a heavily oversubscribed $2.6m share purchase plan (SPP).
“The significant oversubscription to our SPP offering by mainly smaller shareholders demonstrates their clear understanding of the state of the east coast gas market [and] the importance of natural gas to Australia’s manufacturing and electricity generation sectors,” chair John Ellice-Flint said.
Blue also had operational success at Sapphire during the quarter with the Sapphire 6 pilot wells continuing to flow gas.
Elsewhere, the company is preparing for a workover of the Sapphire 5 pilot well through the replacement of a down hole pump.
