Vintage Energy caps off strong quarter with stellar Odin field performance
Australian gas producer Vintage Energy (ASX: VEN) has recorded a 96% increase in sales revenue for the December quarter, boosted by input from its Odin field in the South Australian section of the Cooper Basin.
The addition of production from the Odin-1 well saw the company increase its gas output by 60%.
Managing director Neil Gibbins said the expansion of production at Odin and its sale to the energy-hungry east coast market highlighted the success of Vintage Energy’s strategy.
“The December quarter results highlight the uplift given by Odin-1 production. Production increased 60% and revenue [by] 96%, notwithstanding being offline for a significant part of the quarter due to scheduled downstream maintenance,” Mr Gibbins said.
“Odin-1 has performed steadily and strongly since coming online in September and reinforced our view of the significant potential of the field.”
“Odin-1 is supplying into an attractive gas sales agreement and we are evaluating opportunities to better leverage the field’s capabilities.”
Vintage also reported that production in the March quarter is expected to be offline for approximately 30 days due to maintenance and outages.
This compares to 26 days offline for Odin and 21 for Vali in the December quarter.
Odin up and running
Located in production licence PRL 211, the Odin field came on-stream in September 2023.
The field is 50%-owned and operated by Vintage with joint venture (JV) partners Metgasco (ASX: MEL) and Bridgeport (Cooper Basin), each of whom holds a 25% share in the project.
PRL 211 contains the western portion of the Odin gas field discovered by the PRL 211 JV in 2021.
The eastern portion of the field is mapped to extend into ATP 2021, which has identical joint venture composition to PRL 211.
To date, Odin-1 is the one connected well in the field, which has been completed to produce from the Epsilon and Toolachee formations.
Appraisal program
Odin is currently subject to a long-term production appraisal program with gas produced from the field being supplied to Pelican Point Power (a joint venture of ENGIE and Mitsui Australia) under a contract extending to December 2026.
Gas resources at Odin have been independently certified and were most recently reported in the company’s 2023 annual report as comprising 39.7 petajoules of gross 2C (“best estimate”) contingent resources.
Vintage and its partners are continuing planning for the drilling of two appraisal wells on the Odin gas field, one on the eastern flank of the field in Queensland and the other on the western side in SA.
Well locations have been selected and work area clearances have been scheduled to verify suitability.
Vali continues to flow
Vintage is also the operator of the Vali gas field, which has a similar ownership structure to Odin.
Located in permit ATP 2021 on the Queensland side of the Queensland-SA border, the Vali gas field was discovered in January 2020 before being successfully appraised by the Vali-2 and Vali-3 wells.
Reserves at Vali have been independently certified and comprise gross proved and probable reserves equivalent to 101Pj.
The field has three cased wells, which have been completed and connected to the Moomba gas gathering network for supply to the eastern Australia domestic energy market.
Supply agreement
Vali is currently subject to a long-term production appraisal program with gas produced being supplied to AGL Energy (ASX: AGL) under a supply agreement extending to December 2026.
The Vali gas field was online for 70.2 days during the quarter, averaging raw gas production of 2.15 million standard cubic feet per day.
Vali was offline for 20.8 days during the quarter, of which all but 1.7 days were related to third-party downstream outages.
An operational plan developed by Vintage and subcontractors is to continue to flow Vali-2 with the objective of de-watering so gas flow can improve.
At the same time, Vali-3 remains shut-in as the JV assesses the performance and potential remediation options to improve performance of the producing zone in the Toolachee formation.
Future options for the well include production from other gas-bearing zones such as the Patchawarra formation.