Empire Energy has executed three new grant agreements with the Australian Government under the Beetaloo cooperative drilling program.
This grant supersedes the previous grant, which became void as a result of a decision of the Federal Court.
The new grant agreement has been signed on materially similar terms to those previously entered into on 10 September 2021.
Empire has been awarded a total grand funding of up to $19.4 million from the government, which the company estimates will offset 25 per cent of the cost of seismic acquisition, drilling, fracture stimulation and flow testing of three horizontal appraisal wells in the Beetaloo Sub-basin.
Activities already carried out in the EP187 permit area include the Charlotte 2D seismic survey and the drilling of Carpentaria-2H are eligible for grant funding in accordance with the approval decision.
The key grant terms are as follows:
Grant 1 – 25 per cent of the cost of (i) Charlotte 2D seismic acquisition; (ii) the drilling, fracture stimulation and flow testing of the Carpentaria-2H horizontal appraisal well (excluding the cost of the first 12 fracture stimulation stages and associated cost of horizontal section drilling1 ); and (iii) well design, fracture stimulation design, procurement, consumables, access track construction, well pad construction, evaporation pond construction, rig mobilisation and fracture stimulation spread mobilisation (collectively “associated activities”), capped at a total grant amount of $6.5 million.
Grant 2 – 25 per cent of the cost of drilling, fracture stimulation and flow testing of the Carpentaria-3 horizontal appraisal well and associated activities, capped at a total grant amount of $6.8 million.
Grant 3 – 25 per cent of the cost of drilling, fracture stimulation and flow testing of the Carpentaria-4 horizontal appraisal well and associated activities, capped at a total grant amount of $6.0 million.
Subject to appraisal success and future award production licenses, these wells may become future production wells, consistent with Empire’s rapid commercialisation strategy.
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