Energy

Senex Energy completes Surat gas development, becomes supplier to domestic market

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By Robin Bromby - 
Senex Energy ASX SXY Surat gas development supplier domestic market

Senex managing director and chief executive officer Ian Davies said the company would be delivering natural gas from its Surat Basin acreage for “decades to come”.

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Senex Energy (ASX: SXY) has completed its “transformational” $400 million Surat Basin greenfield natural gas development project.

According to Senex, its project has established the company as an important supplier of gas and it will be delivering natural gas to the domestic market “for decades to come”.

The program entailed drilling 80 wells. The company had planned to drill around 110 wells but reduced the number as a result of continued production performance of those completed.

Senex has been working with its infrastructure partner Jemena, which is owned by the State Grid Corporation of China and Singapore Power.

Jemena operates a diverse portfolio of energy assets across northern Australia and Australia’s east coast. It controls more than $11 billion worth of utility infrastructure and supplies millions of households and businesses.

In conjunction with Jemena, Senex has built and commissioned natural gas facilities at Roma North and Atlas with the capacity to supply more than 20 petajoules (PJ) of gas per annum.

Project has been developed in less than two years

Managing director and chief executive officer Ian Davies said the Surat Basin natural gas project was executed “superbly”.

It was less than two years ago — in October 2018 — that Senex reached its final investment decision for the $400 million project, and now both Roma North and Atlas have been delivered.

It was “a credit to all involved,” said Mr Davies.

“With proved and probable (2P) natural reserves in excess of 600PJ across our Surat Basin acreage, Senex will be delivering natural gas to the domestic market for decades to come,” he added.

Roma North has consistently produced above nameplate capacity of about 18 terajoules per day (TJ/day). The company said Atlas has exceeded 15TJ/day a continues to increase steadily toward nameplate capacity of 32TJ/day, with an additional 8TJ/day of installed capacity available.

It was just over a year ago that saw the beginning of the commissioning process for Roma North and by September 2019 the first 10 wells were brought into production there

Senex aims to be low-cost gas supplier to domestic market

Senex describes itself as one of the few independent companies investing in greenfield gas developments to meet the opportunity in Australia’s east coast market.

“We are leveraging our strategic position as an agile, independent and low-cost operator to bring new gas supply into the market,” the company stated.

Senex holds around 2,000sq km of gas acreage in the Surat Basin, a prolific onshore energy-producing region of Australia’s east coast.

In the South Australian Cooper Basin, Senex produces gas from its Vanessa and Gemba fields to deliver gas for use at the Pelican Point Power Station, a significant generator of electricity to the South Australian market.