The drilling of the Jackson-53 oil appraisal well on the Naccowlah Block as part of the Cooper Basin oil project marks the 100th well in the old Delhi blocks, according to managing director Reg Nelson.
“The 100th well milestone has powered Beach to a record 150 or so oil and gas wells drilled in calendar 2007, as the company spudded nearly 20 wells in its own right and participated in an additional 30 wells on its coal seam gas interests in Queensland,” he said.
“This represents a dramatic increase for Beach in the past 10 years, as it participated in a total of only five wells in the 1997 financial year.”
In 2007, Beach participated in more than 65 wells associated with Santos' Cooper Oil Project, which has experienced a 70% success rate, higher than in areas of the COP in which Beach was not involved.
A similar level of activity is expected in Beach’s tenements in 2008.
Beach gained entry to the COP’s production and revenue last September, after paying $574 million for all the production and exploration assets of Delhi Petroleum, which was centred on the Cooper Basin.
The acquisition gave Beach an average 25% interest in the COP as well as part-ownership of the Moomba processing plant and transmission pipelines to southern and eastern markets.
Nelson said the company’s forward plan was to maximise the basin's remaining potential, either through the COP or in other joint ventures.
“This approach has considerable potential to add incremental but nonetheless significant daily barrel averages to our total production profile,” he said.
