Vintage Energy confirms extensive gas pay in Odin-1 exploration well targets
Vintage managing director Neil Gibbins said the results from Odin-1 were “outstanding”, with the well now being cased for future production.
Wireline logging by Vintage Energy (ASX: VEN) of the Odin-1 joint venture exploration well in Queensland’s Cooper Basin has confirmed extensive gas pay in the primary Toolachee and Patchawarra, as well as the secondary Epsilon, formations.
The well reached a total planned depth of 3,140m last week, with gas shows encountered in sandstones through Toolachee and Patchawarra, and throughout basal sand in Epsilon.
The shows were confirmed as gas pay over the weekend via a wireline evaluation program and samples successfully recovered from the primary formations.
New hydrocarbon zones
Vintage managing director Neil Gibbins said the presence of gas is a “clear indication” that new hydrocarbon-bearing zones are still awaiting discovery in areas of the Cooper Basin which have explored by other companies.
“The outstanding results from Odin-1 makes it three successful wells cased for production from three drilled in the Cooper Basin,” he said.
“This success is confirmation of [our] team’s ability to map, identify, drill and find oil and gas in areas previously worked over by others.”
Drilling plan
Odin-1 was designed to address a fault-bounded Patchawarra closure up-dip of the Strathmount-1 well which was drilled in 1987 then plugged and abandoned after the discovery of what was then considered to be a non-commercial hydrocarbon accumulation.
Toolachee is believed to have approximately 8m of structural relief over nearly 5.2 square kilometres, while Patchawarra has 15m relief over 2.5sq km.
Prior to drilling Odin-1, the Odin structure had an estimated gross prospective resource of 3.6 billion cubic feet (1U low estimate), 12.6Bcf (2U best estimate), and 42.6Bcf (3U high estimate).
Odin-1 is expected to add to these overall gas volumes.
Casing the well
The Odin-1 well is part of permit PRL 211 shared by Vintage (42.5% equity); Metgasco (ASX: MEL) and New Hope Corporation (ASX: NHC) subsidiary Bridgeport Energy (21.25% each); and Impress (Cooper Basin) Pty Ltd (15%).
The joint venture has decided to case the well as a gas discovery for future production.
Initial interpretations will now be combined with pressure and sample data from an MDT (modular formation dynamics) survey to quantify pay thickness, column heights and compositions.
The venture partners will have the option to connect expected future production from the Odin Field into the nearby Vali field, in which Vintage has 50% equity and with Metgasco and Bridgeport retaining 25% each.
Next steps
Vintage said it would now move towards an initial phase of development at Vali which will include actively marketing gas for Australia’s east coast market.
Earlier this month, the joint venture secured approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to market gas produced from the field from 2022 and to enter gas supply agreements with customers.
The SLR184 drill rig will also move from Odin-1 to the Vali-3 well site, with the well expected to be spudded this weekend.