Basker-2 will deliver the first offshore production for the two partners – Anzon Australia Limited (62.5% interest and operator) and Beach Petroleum (37.5% with the right to acquire a further 12.5%). Beach Petroleum also owns a direct 10% interest in Anzon.
The Basker Manta project (which also includes the Gummy gas field), is located in Victorian Retention Leases VIC/RL’s 6, 9 &10.
The Basker and Manta fields have proven and probable (2P) recoverable oil reserves of 23.3 million barrels. In addition, a contingent gas-condensate resource of 19.2 million barrels of oil equivalent has been identified in the Manta and Gummy fields.
Basker-2 is expected to initially produce 6000 to 8,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) on test, rising to around 20,000 bopd when peak production is achieved after full development in mid-2006.
The semi-submersible drill rig, the Ocean Patriot, is expected to take up to 40 days to drill and complete the well to its total depth of 3,360 metres.
Basker-2 is the first of at least four proposed sub-sea production wells that will be drilled by the Basker Manta JV.
The project is the first innovative application of floating, production, storage and offtake (FPSO) technology in Bass Strait since development operations began there in the mid- 1960s.
Alongside the project’s FPSO vessel, the Crystal Ocean, will also be located one of the largest tankers to be permanently anchored in Australian waters for oil storage and distribution (the “Basker Spirit”).
The Crystal Ocean has been contracted until at least January 2008 with an option for a total of three extensions for an additional four years on location at the fields.
Oil produced during the extended test will be transferred to the 650,000 barrel capacity and renamed Basker Spirit Aframax-class tanker (formerly the Nordic Yukon) for storage and subsequent sale.
The Basker Spirit – which has been contracted by the JV for three years - is due in Victorian waters in October.
Anzon and Beach Petroleum are currently negotiating sale arrangements for Basker Manta oil – with several options including offtake into shuttle tankers at sea, or for the Basker Spirit to offload direct at a Victorian or New South Wales coastal refinery.
