Commissioning begins for Vintage Energy’s Vali gas field
Vintage Energy anticipates first gas from Vali-1 in 7-12 days.
Commissioning is now underway at Vintage Energy’s (ASX: VEN) Vali gas field in the Cooper Basin after mechanical handover of the Vali-1 facilities took place over the weekend.
The emerging producer today confirmed the completed construction and installation of the lease pad facilities at Vali-1 with the contractor team, headed by Global Engineering and Construction (GEC), passing control of the project onto Upstream Production Solutions (UPS) to commission, operate and maintain the infrastructure.
Vintage said Vali-1 commissioning has started with purging of the system with nitrogen to expel air and various checks prior to the introduction of gas.This process will be followed by commissioning of the metering facilities, the Beckler tie-in and export lines.
According to the company, first gas from the Vali field is “likely in seven to 12 days”.
Vali-2 and Vali-3 commissioning expected next month
Meanwhile, construction and installation work is ongoing at the Vali-2 and Vali-3 sites with mechanical handover and commissioning at these locations expected by early March.
Vintage managing director Neil Gibbins said the Vali project’s transition from construction to commissioning has marked a long-anticipated milestone.
“Vali is now one step away from first gas and with that, the commencement of revenue generation.”
“Our focus is firmly on executing commissioning safely and efficiently so Vali gas can start flowing to eastern Australia as soon as possible,” he added.
Vali joint venture
The Vali project involves the installation of gas metering facilities at the Vali facility including separation, the installation of flowlines connecting the field’s three completed wells to the metering facility, and twin export gas pipelines from the Queensland field to tie-in to the Moomba gas gathering network across the border at the Beckler gas field in South Australia.
Vali has been independently certified as having proved and probable gas reserves of 101 petajoules.
Vintage holds a 50% operating interest in Vali in a joint venture with Metgasco (ASX: MEL, 25%) and private company Bridgeport (Cooper Basin) Pty Ltd (25%). The joint venture has contracted to supply an estimated 9-16PJ gas to AGL Energy (ASX: AGL) from field start-up to the end of 2026.