MEO Australia’s exploration portfolio will be getting thinner next year, as the company announced it will drop out of three Australian blocks in the next six months due to high risks and minimal potential.
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Map of Beehive. From MEO. |
MEO is exiting the NT/P69 permit in the Heron area, after assessments of the discovery concluded that it was too small to be a potential gas supply source for the Tassie Shoal projects.
The company is also withdrawing from two Western Australian permits: 62.5% stake in the WA-360-P permit, and 50% stake in the WA-361-P permit. According to MEO, the remaining prospectivity in these permits is considered too high risk for its exploration strategy, when compared to its other assets.
“MEO is demonstrating its fiscal discipline by divesting of exploration projects that no longer have the risk-reward profile that fits with the company’s strategic objectives. In doing so our resources can be re-focused onto existing projects and new opportunities that have greater potential to generate shareholder value,” Peter Stickland, MEO managing director and CEO said.
In keeping with its strategy, MEO has decided to focus on priority exploration projects, which include several Australian permits, in addition to onshore permits in Cuba and New Zealand.
Two exploration permits in the Petrel area sub-basin: WA-488-P or Beehive, and WA-454-P or Breakwater; and one permit in the Vulcan area sub-basin AC/P50, are part of the company’s top priorities.
At 40m water depth, the shallow water Beehive permit has an area of 4074sq km and has a prospective resource of up to 2 billion bbl. It is located between the producing Blacktip gas field and the undeveloped Turtle and Barnett oil discoveries. MEO has 70% stake in Beehive, and recently farmed out 30% interest to Rex International.
Breakwater is a large multi-objective structure in 89m water depth, with main objectives in the Early Permian sandstone reservoirs that are proven to be highly
productive at the nearby Blacktip field. The target section ranges from depths of about 1500-3000m. Breakwater-1 is assessed to have a 29% geological chance of success. Resource estimates are at 1.6 Tcf of gas, and 69 MMstb of liquids.
Offshore Northwest Australia, MEO will focus on its 100% owned Vulcan, which is adjacent to a number of oil and gas discoveries.
MEO has identified the Ramble On prospect at Vulcan, incorporating proven reservoir, seal and source intervals in a new structural play for the basin. Ramble On is in water depth of 68m and is part of a trend of prospects that have been identified using the new Zepplin 3D seismic survey and the reprocessed Onnia 3D survey. Ramble On is approximately 15kms from the Montara oil project.
Follow up potential to Ramble On has been identified in a series of six additional prospects and leads to the north-east in both AC/P51 and AC/P50, and in other playtypes identified in the permits, MEO said.
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