Strike said this morning it had been looking to employ the "very best" of the recent technological developments in the US shale industry to execute Jaws-1 as it develops its Southern Cooper Basin gas project with a new board, strategy, team and plan.

 

Halliburton will use the Ensign 965 rig, which has recent experience in both deep and horizontal./directional drilling in the Cooper, for its new drilling and stimulation contract for Jaws-1, one of the most technologically advanced CSG wells ever drilled, according to Strike.

 

Jaws-1, which will be drilled to about 2000m vertical depth with an 800m horizontal section that will intercept a second vertical producing well,  will appraise the gas-charged 35m Vu Upper coal seam and its effects on the reservoir's productivity.

 

That horizontal section will target the placement of seven stimulation stages to create as much communication with the reservoir as possible.

 

The vertical producing well will be drilled first with a pressurised coring campaign on the Vm3 and Vu coals to gather gas saturation and other reservoir characteristics needed for the technical maturation of the other targets.

 

After all this, Strike expects to be able to declare commercial success over the resource and convert its existing resource to a reserve.

 

This will, in turn, trigger a decision on the Southern Cooper Basin gas project's development.

 

Jaws-1, within the Klebb appraisal area and part of PEL96, was sited to leverage existing dewatering achieved to date, and is designed to communicate with about 170 acres of the Vu Upper coal seam.

 

Strike has a 66.67% joint venture interest, with Energy World Corporation's Australian Gasfields holding the rest.

 

Strike was trading up at 6.2c this morning.