Mosman Oil and Gas is evaluating the bids it has received for the airborne gravity data acquisition for EP 145 in the Northern Territory
The company reported that planning for the seismic acquisition in the Amadeus Basin is ongoing, with a contract and equipment to be secured in the near future.
Mosman’s Andy Carroll and Julie Daws met with the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (“APAA”) and the Central Land Council (“CLC”) in Alice Springs to discuss the current work programme.
An AAPA Sacred Site Clearance Certificate is required to ensure no damage to sacred sites, and this has been received.
Other requirements prior to the seismic acquisition include the CLC requirement for a heritage survey (needed prior to ground access), where Mosman is awaiting clarity from CLC on timing and also the requirement for an on-ground environmental survey and environmental management plan before the crews can access the area to acquire the seismic data.
Given delays related to COVID-19, Mosman no longer considers it feasible to obtain and process the seismic data under the original EP 145 permit seismic schedule of August 2021, with the company applying to the NT Government for an extension.
The subsalt play is a focus of exploration across the Amadeus Basin, including Mosman operated EP145.
In addition to the subsalt prospectivity, EP145 contains the West Walker-1 gas discovery which lies on trend with the Mereenie oil and gas field which produces from the Ordovician Pacoota Sandstone unit and the Palm Valley gas field that have both been under production for over 30 years.
Two wells have been drilled in EP145, the first West Walker-1 (1982) tested the western end of an anticlinal feature and flowed wet gas to surface at a rate of 3.5MMscf/d from the Pacoota Sandstone, also the main producing reservoir in the Mereenie Field. A follow up well drilled, called Tent Hill-1 (1984), located to the southeast on the same anticline was deemed unsuccessful, although oil was observed weeping from cores.