Empire Oil & Gas Signs Drilling Contract With Weatherford

Published: 06-Nov-2009

Empire Oil & Gas NL (Empire Oil & Gas), with its operating company, Empire Services Pty Ltd, has executed a drilling contract with Weatherford Drilling International (Weatherford) and its Rig 826 to drill Gingin West-1, with the option to drill Gingin West-2, on behalf of the EP 389 joint venture. The Gingin West-1 siteworks will be completed on November 6, 2009.

The rigging up of Weatherford Rig 826 will then commence, together with the mobilization of the drilling camp for up to 50 personnel. All service company contracts have been awarded and that equipment and personnel will be mobilized to the well site, together with casing, wellhead equipment, cement and drilling fluids and the auxillary equipment. Empire Oil & Gas has also prepared the completion and Testing Programme with Advanced Well Technologies Pty Ltd.

Electric wireline logging will be undertaken by Crocker Tucker Logging, a new logging company associated with founder and veteran oil man, Hugh Crocker. The Gingin West-1 well is located over the Gingin West Block B prospect, a simple anticlinal structure. The well is 500 meters south and updip from the Bootine-1 gas discovery well drilled by Mesa Australia Limited in 1981 which flowed 2.25 million cubic feet gas per day from the Cattamarra Coal Measures D Sand. Gingin West-1 is interpreted to be significantly updip from Bootine-1. The primary objectives of the Cattamarra Coal Measures within four-way dip closure are the Unit B Sand, the Upper Unit D Sand and the Lower Unit D Sand. Estimated recoverable reserves are 16.5 billion cubic feet of gas.

The secondary objective is the Lower Cattamarra in the tilted Fault Block LC2 and LC3 Sands with estimated potential recoverable reserves of 16.5 BCF. The total estimated potential recoverable gas reserves for Gingin West Block B is 32.8 BCF of gas and 0.4 million barrels of condensate.

There is provision to drill Gingin West-2 from the same location to access the Gingin West Block A Prospect, a fault controlled anticline to the west of and updip from Bootine-1. Estimated potential recoverable gas reserves are 58.9 BCF of gas and 0.7 million barrels condensate. The total estimated potential gas reserves for Gingin West-1 Block B and Gingin West Block A is 91.7 BCF of gas and 1.1 million barrels of associated condensate.

The potential for a gas development at Gingin West of up to 91.7 BCF of recoverable gas and the associated 1.1 million barrels of condensate is considered an attractive and largely de-risked drilling programme over these Gingin West structures that have been delineated by both 2D and the recently recorded Gingin West 3D seismic survey. The Cattamarra coal measures reservoir objectives at Gingin West are those that have been gas productive in the Gingin-1, Gingin-2 and Bootine-1 wells.

Gingin West-1 is estimated to take 35 days to drill and test.

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