The company sold 2.6 million barrels of oil equivalent, up 1% on prior quarter, mainly due to higher sales gas demand during peak winter months and initiation of the Origin Energy retail gas sales agreement, bringing in $145 million.
The company saw its average realised per barrel oil price fall 19% from $83/bbl to $68/bbl, however lower oil prices were partially offset by higher realised sales gas prices following initiation of the long-term oil-linked agreement with Origin that was announced in 2013.
Beach will deliver up to 173 petajoules over 10 years, with the agreement expected to ramp up over the year to align with market requirements.
Quarterly production was up 2.3 MMboe, mainly due to increased well head capacity and infrastructure capabilities, offset by natural field decline.
New fields in the former PEL 91, Stunsail, Pennington and Balgowan, have started production and the JV has approved the next expansion of the Bauer facility, which will almost double fluid handling capacity to 133,000 barrels of fluid per day by mid-2016.
Four wells from the second development pad in the Bauer field and the Hanson-2 development well, are still to be brought online.
In the former PEL 106 (Beach 50% and operator, Drillsearch 50%) sales gas and LPG production increased 17% to 73,000kboe (net) and condensate production increased 16% to 8,7000boe, mainly due to minimal downtime at the Middleton and Moomba facilities.
Expenditure was just $44 million, as Beach curtailed its capital expenditure, with the spending predominantly related to non-operated development activities within the Santos-operated South Australian and Queensland joint ventures.
In SA Beach (20.21%), Santos (66.6% and operator) and Origin (13.19%) are drilling six wells in the Tirrawarra and Gooranie fields, targeting gas and gas liquids in the Patchawarra Formation and oil in the Tirrawarra Sandstone where there is significant remaining potential.
Included in the program is one deep coal fracture stimulation per well, with the aim to test incremental well productivity.
Five oil wells were also drilled in the greater Limestone Creek area, however Beach elected not to participate in the first development well of the campaign, Seccante-2.
In the South West Queensland JV (Beach 20%, Santos 55% and operator, Origin 25%) the partners successfully extended the Cuisinier field Murta reservoir into ATP 1189 with last year's Cocinero-1, and with the recent Cocinero-3 development well finding a net 2.4m Murta zone and 7.4m in the Hutton Sandstone appear to have the potential to increase production further.
In the Patchawarra East JV (Beach 17.14%, Santos 72.32% and operator, Origin 10.54%) the Beanbush-2 appraisal well, drilled to further define original gas in place in the Beanbush field in PPL 156 provided a high-side gas pay outcome relative to pre-drill estimates and was cased and suspended.
The well will be fracced in the deep coals of the Toolachee, Epsilon and Patchawarra formations next year.
As a result Beach of the solid quarter, Beach saw its cash reserves increase by $4 million to $174 million.
The company was also able to announce a reserves replacement ratio of 100% for 2014-15, with 2P reserves of 74.4MMboe.
