Blue Energy to benefit as new NT government prioritises Beetaloo gas development

Blue Energy (ASX: BLU) is among a group of Australian gas companies buoyed by the newly elected Northern Territory government’s commitment to developing its world-class Beetaloo sub-basin.

Newly appointed NT Minister for Mining and Energy Gerard Maley said the development of the Beetaloo sub-basin was an urgent government priority, noting it would create jobs, attract further private investment and build on the Territory’s many competitive advantages.

“The Territory’s gas will help rebuild the Territory’s economy and we have this resource here and ready to go—it will underpin renewables, power manufacturing and, importantly, contribute to Australia’s energy security,” he said.

NT gas position

Blue Energy has identified its NT exploration acreage as a key component of its strategy to help supply the energy-hungry east coast market.

The Beetaloo sub-basin sits within the 180,000-square-kilometre McArthur Basin, where Blue is a significant landholder.

The company has identified a very thick sequence of sedimentary reflectors after processing 2D deep crustal data, with studies also indicating probable correlation with the Beetaloo sequences.

Blue’s plan is to complete the interpretation of new seismic data and confirm the prospectivity across its larger acreage position.

Queensland assets

Further south, Blue has several Queensland projects targeting gas supplies for the east coast.

The most advanced of these is the Sapphire project, where field activity continues with production testing of the Sapphire 5 and 6 lateral cluster.

The company has achieved a maximum rate of 150 thousand standard cubic feet of gas per day (mscfd).

Those wells are still dewatering.

Blue plans to continue the Sapphire production testing and pursue the grant of the Sapphire production licence with the new Queensland government while continuing to progress the southern gas pipeline to connect the North Bowen Basin to the east coast gas market.

Gas shortages

Managing director John Phillips told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting this week that gas is a critical component of Australia’s energy future.

He said renewable energy plus gas equals reliable electricity but warned that traditional gas supply sources are depleting.

Mr Phillips noted that Australia faces gas shortages in the short, medium and long term for use in lowering emissions, residential needs, manufacturing, process heat, feedstock and electricity generation.