During late 2004 formal environmental approval of the offshore Otway basin, Victoria development was received from the Commonwealth Department of Environment and Heritage. More recently, the project has received approvals for the construction of the shore crossing and the installation of the onshore pipeline, which will link the offshore development to the Iona gas plant.

Preparation has begun for the development drilling operations in Vic/P44, AWE said. The Casino-4 and -5 wells are planned to in March.

Preliminary works for the onshore pipeline installation and testing of subsea control systems have also been completed and tested.

Located about 30km offshore from Port Campbell in about 70 metre-deep water, the Casino gas field will be the first commercial development in VIC/P44.

Raw gas from the sub-sea facilities at the Casino field will be transported to the coastline through a sea-floor pipeline that will come ashore via a directionally-drilled underground shore crossing and transported via a buried pipeline to TXU's Iona processing facilities. These facilities have been specifically designed to minimise any adverse environmental impact.

After processing at the Iona plant, sales-quality gas will be supplied to industrial, commercial and domestic customers in Victoria and South Australia and be used in electricity generation.

Interests are Santos Limited (operator) 50%, Peedamullah Petroleum Pty Ltd (wholly-owned subsidiary of AWE) 25% and Mittwell Energy Resources Pty Ltd (wholly-owned subsidiary of Mitsui) 25%.