PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Senex Energy will invest some A$50-million in a 30-well drilling campaign in the Western Surat gas project, marking its first major investment in the project.

MD and CEO Ian Davies on Tuesday said the work programme would result in significant gas volumes from drill-ready acreage, with Senex already having a clear strategy for project acceleration.

“We have seen immediate gas to surface from the Glenora pilot wells, brought online for continuous production in early February. We have also seen evidence of strong gas flows from wells on the Eos block during rehabilitation work being undertaken on legacy wells. These results demonstrate that coal seams in the Glenora and Eos blocks have already been partially dewatered by neighbouring operations.”

Davies said the sanctioned well programme will further Senex’s understanding of the resource to support an accelerated project timeline, with potential to drill, complete and connect another 30 to 50 wells throughout 2018.

“Under this scenario and, subject to regulatory approvals, Senex can seamlessly transition to a development phase targeting gas production of over 16 TJ a day by 2019, equivalent to one-million barrels of oil equivalent a year.”

First wells are expected to come on line in mid-2017 and are expected to produce some 10 TJ a day by mid-2018.

“Finally, the 2017 work programme will give us the opportunity to fully embed our design, contracting and execution methodologies in order to demonstrate best-in-class safety and cost performance,” Davies said.

With the Glenora and Eos blocks located directly north from the Gladstone liquefied natural gas (GLNG) project’s producing Roma field, Senex is planning to sell the raw gas to the GLNG project, subject to the agreement of commercial terms.

A pipeline from the Glenora pilot to the GLNG project's low-pressure gathering network was built in 2016.