Vintage Energy’s fast-track hopes for Odin-2 gas project hit by weather setbacks

Vintage Energy’s (ASX: VEN) fast-track development of the Odin-2 gas well has been impacted by a recent massive rain deluge in inland Australia.

Significant rainfall in the area has affected the ground surface in the Queensland section of the Cooper Basin, where Vintage and joint venture (JV) partners Metgasco (ASX: MEL) and Bridgeport recently confirmed a sizeable gas resource at Odin-2.

The JV was looking to bring Odin-2 online as quickly as possible to take advantage of the current strong gas demand on Australia’s east coast.

Multi-zone gas producer

Initial pay analysis from the well led to the decision to complete Odin-2 as a multi-zone gas producer and the JV quickly obtained the necessary equipment to complete the well, with operations scheduled to commence this month.

Odin-2 will supply gas to ENGIE’s Pelican Point Power Plant in South Australia under a long-term supply contract.

Vintage reported that the lack of access to the Odin gas field has also prevented the restoration of production from Odin-1, which halted on 2 July due to a shut-in requiring a manual restart.

Limited access

While the company expects to obtain operator access to Odin-1 in the coming days, it is not clear when conditions will dry out sufficiently to enable restoration of road access to the Odin-Vali region.

The completion of Odin-2 and production optimisation work planned for Odin-1 and Vali-2 are now expected to commence in August rather than July as previously advised, with commensurate flow-on impact to schedules.

The JV is still assessing if weather conditions are suitable for a helicopter survey planned to be flown in the coming days.

Optimisation work

The JV was preparing to undertake production optimisation work at the Odin-1 and Vali-2 wells using the new equipment acquired to tie in Odin-2.

The program is designed to add potential new production from the Patchawarra formation at the Odin-1 and the Toolachee formation in the Vali-2 well.

Odin-1 had been producing raw gas at 1.4 million standard cubic feet per day.

Vali-2 was previously configured to produce solely from the Patchawarra formation but has been shut-in since March 2024 after operations to establish significant gas flow were unsuccessful.