The fracture stimulation program, which is using water or cross-linked gel fraccing fluid, will continue over the next four to six weeks, after which time the wells will be equipped with pumps and sequentially placed on production test. The wells will then be de-watered before starting commercial gas production.
Last week, Eastern Star reported that testing had confirmed all nine wells had intersected a highly permeable coal reservoir in the Bohena seam.
The tightly spaced Bibblewindi production pilot, in which the wells are spaced 500m apart, was designed to accelerate de-watering of the Bohena coal seam and to achieve commercial gas production rates as soon as possible, with the aim of establishing initial proven and probable (2P) reserves certification by mid to late 2007.
The Bohena Project Area, which covers 260 square kilometres in PEL 238, contains up to 3700 petajoules, or 3.7 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), of gas-in-place within coal seams of the Late Permian Black Jack Formation and the Early Permian Maules Creek, according to Eastern Star.
PEL 238, in which Eastern Star now holds a 65% stake, is believed to contain one of the largest onshore natural gas accumulations in Australia alone totalling 17,000PJ (17 Tcf) of gas-in-place within the two coal seams that are over 10m thick in each of two coal-bearing formations.
