Industry News

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Empire Energy Groups' Managing Director Alex Underwood interviewed by Matt Birney on the Bulls N’ Bears Report about Empire’s exquisite land acquisition in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo gas basin that sent its in-ground gas resources in the region skyrocketing.

Sourced from 3AW, Listen via stream below:  

Operational Update – EP 161 Tanumbirini 2H Well Successfully Drilled

Highlights

• Tanumbirini 2H (“T2H”) successfully drilled to a total depth of 4,598 metres.

• T2H encountered significant gas shows and pressures that are typically strong indicators of commercial flow rates.

• Drilling of T2H is complete and the drilling of the Tanumbirini 3H (“T3H”) will commence shortly.

• Following the completion of the drilling phase of T3H, both wells will be fracture stimulated and flow tested.

Tamboran Resources Limited (ASX: TBN) Managing Director and CEO, Joel Riddle, said:

“We are pleased to report that the T2H well in EP 161, operated by our joint venture partner Santos QNT Pty Ltd (“Santos”), was drilled to a total depth of 4,598 metres after successfully completing the horizontal section in over 1,000 metres of Mid-Velkerri ‘B’ shale.

“The results to date have been encouraging, with T2H encountering strong gas shows and pressures. This supports our pre-drill understanding that natural fractures are present at this location, the deepest part of the core Beetaloo Sub-basin. Natural fractures, strong pressures and gas flows during this stage of drilling are typically indicative of a shale that will respond positively to fracture stimulation. The presence of significant gas shows and pressure are consistent with the results from Tanumbirini 1, a vertical well which was successfully flow tested in 2020. Production casing in T2H has been set and cemented.

“The Easternwell 106 rig will commence drilling T3H shortly. Following the completion of T3H, both wells will be re-entered, fracture stimulated, and flow tested with results expected to be announced prior to the end of 2021. “We are gaining valuable data and learnings from the current T2H and T3H drilling program in EP 161 with Santos. This information will be incorporated into the well design for Maverick 1H, the well that Tamboran intends to drill in EP 136, its 100% owned and operated permit, in 2022.”

For full report and results click here

The Territory Labor Government has released a new round of funding to support local businesses affected by the Top End’s latest COVID-19 lockdown, with immediate payments now available.

The payment is available to businesses located in the Darwin, Palmerston and Litchfield Council areas, the Wagait and Belyuen Shires, Dundee, Bynoe, Charlotte, Cox Peninsula, and the municipality of Katherine, including Tindal.

The program is open to Northern Territory small businesses, not-for-profits or incorporated associations which are based in these areas, and the application process is simple, easy and will involve a declaration on behalf of the applicant.

During the first round of lockdown payments the Territory Labor Government supported more than 2,100 Territory businesses with $2.2 million in funding handed out.

The Territory Business Lockdown Payment is a one-off payment of $1000, designed to support small businesses that have either ceased trading or suffered a revenue loss of 50% or greater during the lockdown.

Eligible small businesses are those with a turnover of less than $10 million and less than 20 full-time-equivalent staff, and who have had to stop trading, or suffered a 50 per cent drop in turnover during lockdown. 

The payment will help cover ongoing costs.

For more information for businesses, or to access the payments, please visit: https://businessrecovery.nt.gov.au/businesses/territory-business-lockdown-payment-program.

Michael Gunner - Chief Minister of the Northern Territory

Paul Kirby - Minister for Small Business

This morning, the Security and Emergency Management Committee (SEMC) made the decision under the Northern Territory pandemic plan to lock down part of the NT community. 

Effective from 12.01pm today, the below areas will enter a full lockdown for 72 hours:

City of Darwin

City of Palmerston

Litchfield Council

Wagait Shire

Belyuen Shire

Dundee

Bynoe

Charlotte

Cox Peninsula

Municipality of Katherine including Tindal

The lockdown follows confirmation of a COVID-19 positive case last night of a man in his 30’s who had relocated to the Territory for work. The man is currently isolating in Katherine and will be transferred to the Centre for National Resilience today.

As an international arrival, he completed 14-days quarantine in Sydney on 12 August 2021 and returned multiple negative test results, the last one on the 10 August 2021.  He transited from Sydney to Darwin via Canberra on Thursday (12 August 2021).

He landed in Darwin at approximately midnight Thursday night-Friday morning (12-13 August 2021) and drove to Katherine on Sunday afternoon after having his mandatory three-day post quarantine test at the RDH Pandemic clinic.

This test subsequently returned a positive last night. This man is asymptomatic and it is not known where he contracted COVID-19 or what strain it is.

The man visited various locations in the Darwin CBD and Katherine for limited periods of time. The exposure site locations are available at coronavirus.nt.gov.au 

From 12:01pm today, residents from affected areas must stay at home for the 72 hour lockdown period and people are only permitted to leave home for the following five reasons:

1.   Medical treatment, including COVID testing or vaccination

2.   For essential goods and services, like groceries and medications

3.   For work that is considered essential

4.   For one hour of outdoor exercise a day within 5 km from your home with one other person or people from your house

5.   To provide care and support to a family member or person who cannot support themselves.

Schools in affected areas will remain open only for the children of essential workers.

For everyone in the lockdown area, masks must be worn if you leave your place of residence for one of these five reasons.

Your place of residence is where you live right now.

Anyone caught breaching today’s directions – including not wearing a mask – faces a $5,000 fine.

Police will be establishing interception points to control travel in and out of these regions.

Territorians in the lockdown areas should not travel – including out of the Territory – unless it is for one of the five reasons.

Non-Territorians are permitted to leave the Territory.

Update from SecureNT

Department of the Chief Minister and Cabinet

To continue to drive investment and achieve a $40 billion economy by 2030, the Territory Labor Government has announced a new partnership to accelerate the Territory’s battery materials and manufacturing industry. 

The $500,000 investment will see the Government work with the Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre (FBICRC) over a four year period.

The partnership will see the Territory participate in industry research, which will better inform investors about the Territory’s capabilities and battery value chain – the steps involved in manufacturing, distributing and selling batteries to end users. 

It will play an important role in identifying the Territory’s best opportunities to capitalise in an emerging domestic and global market, and link us with the best partners to grow local business and manufacturing.

This initiative is a key part of the Territory’s strengthened approach to winning investment and supporting economic growth. It will play a significant step in supporting the development of new mines and new manufacturing industry.

The FBICRC benefits from the shared knowledge of 60 participants who combined have contributed in excess of $120 million, key insights and a joint approach to solving key technical and market development challenges in growing new battery industries in Australia from mining to manufacture to recycling and re-use, as well as tackling critical topics like sustainability and responsible sourcing.

The battery industry has been identified as an opportunity to add value to the Territory’s abundant natural resources and leverage its proximity to export markets throughout the Indo-Pacific.

Analysts have forecast an increase in the global demand for batteries as the world moves towards 2030 and 2050 emissions reduction goals.

From:

Michael Gunner - Chief Minister of the Northern Territory

Eva Lawler - Minister for Renewables and Energy

Alice Springs residents can now access an online power demand forecast that provides awareness and visibility on their local power system.

The Alice Springs Demand Forecast provides Power and Water’s System Control with an additional tool to help manage power system volatility.

The rapid uptake of solar by households and businesses is already delivering cheaper, cleaner power right across the Territory.

This increase in behind-the-meter solar and the impending connection of new large-scale solar projects to the grid means new investments and policies are required to maintain the stability of the power system.

Being able to accurately predict output of solar generators and behind the meter installations will give System Control the ability to better plan and manage the system to maintain system security and stability.

It will further allow System Control to better manage the impacts of increasing renewable generation across the Alice Springs region by forecasting power system demand every five minutes.

The enhanced power system visibility benefits both Power and Water and Territory Generation power system operations, and supports control room operators to make more informed real-time decisions to improve power system security.

In addition, this achieves Recommendation 2a and 2b of the Utilities Commission Independent Investigation of Alice Springs System Black Incident on 13 October 2019; whereby Power and Water and Territory Generation were required to jointly report to the Utilities Commission on a plan to implement improved solar forecasting, and for the solar forecasting data to be held by the party responsible for maintaining spinning reserve.

To view the new Alice Springs Solar Forecasting Tool visit https://ntesmo.com.au/

From Eva Lawler - Minister for Essential Services, Renewables and Energy.

Clearing works are now complete as part of construction on Jabiru’s new power station.

The project is part of the Territory Labor Government’s $135.5 million dollar commitment to the Future of Jabiru and Kakadu.

The new power station is being constructed and operated by Energy Developments Pty Ltd (EDL), a global leader in remote renewables, and it will meet the Government’s targets of 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030.

During the land clearing process, local Djurrubu Rangers were employed to assist with cultural heritage management and environmental protection during site clearing and preparation.

The clearing work provided a great opportunity for EDL and contractors to work with Traditional Owners.

Construction works are now underway, with the diesel generators scheduled to come online by the end of 2021 and the solar farm in early 2022.

The project will continue to create jobs and business opportunities for Territorians, having spent $1.75 million with local businesses to date.

Once completed, works will ensure secure, reliable and affordable electricity for Jabiru businesses and residents.

The new hybrid power station will deliver at least 50 per cent of its electricity over its lifetime from its 3.9 megawatt solar array.

The power station is expected to be up and running by the end of 2021 and fully commissioned by February 2022.

From:

Michael Gunner - Chief Minister of the Northern Territory

Lawrence Costa - Member for Arafura

Santos, as operator of the Bayu-Undan Joint Venture, today announced that production from the Phase 3C infill drilling program at the Bayu-Undan field had begun with the first well producing a better than anticipated outcome.

The first well has been brought online at 178 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas and 11,350 barrels per day (bbl/d) of liquids, significantly increasing liquids production to over 25,000 bbl/d from the field and increasing offshore well capacity for supply of gas to the Darwin LNG plant.

The Noble Tom Prosser jack-up rig has now commenced drilling the second of the three wells, with the program expected to be completed early next year and will maximise value from the Bayu-Undan field.

Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Kevin Gallagher said: “We are delighted to see first production from the 3C program, which is immediately delivering value to both the Bayu-Undan Joint Venture and the people of Timor-Leste and importantly helps extend the life of Bayu-Undan and the jobs and investment that rely on it.

“Following the successful result from the first of the Van Gogh Phase 2 infill wells, today’s results are another example of Santos creating incremental value from acquired assets.

“We’ve seen a better than expected reservoir outcome with this first well of the campaign, with successful results across both the primary and secondary targets in the well and a much higher initial gas production rate than expected.”

“It has not come without its challenges, managing crew movements with COVID-19 outbreaks either side of the Timor Sea, so I want to acknowledge the efforts of our team, our Joint Venture partners and specifically the Timor-Leste regulator, Autoridade Nacional do Petróleo e Minerais (ANPM), in keeping this exciting program on track.”

The successful drilling and tie-in of the first of three new wells comes six months after a Final Investment Decision and has lifted natural gas and liquids production for the field in TimorLeste offshore waters.

ANPM President Florentino Soares Ferreira said: “From the outset, the Phase 3C program has been seen as an opportunity to maximise the ultimate recovery in the Bayu-Undan field. This was of course a calculated decision from the regulatory side considering we are working under the Production Sharing Agreement regime in which the cost recovery scheme is a fundamental element in our assessment.

“Managing the mobilisation of the crews between Bayu-Undan and hotspot areas during the pandemic has been a challenging task, but with great synergy between the Operator and ANPM, the Phase 3C operation has been smooth

“The successful result of the first 3C well has proven to us that our decision for approval was correct. We can now give additional hope to Timor-Leste with the increase of production and extension of the Bayu-Undan field life, and we look forward to the success of the two remaining 3C wells.”

Santos has a 43.4% operated interest in Bayu-Undan. The remaining interest is held by SK E&S (25%), INPEX (11.4%), Eni (11%), JERA (6.1%), and Tokyo Gas (3.1%). 

Source: https://www.santos.com/

Hydraulic Fracturing Implementation Progress Update Nov 2020 to Apr 2021

This progress update provides detail on the status of implementation from 1 November 2020 to 30 April 2021. There are 135 recommendations in total, however three of the recommendations were separated at the time of implementation planning, resulting in a total of 138 recommendations to be reported on.+

As at 30 April 2021, 64 of the 138 total recommendations were fully complete. Updates to the implementation status of individual recommendations can be found by clicking on the relevant recommendations

Highlights from the progress achieved in the six month reporting period and next steps align to the following four key areas of implementation and reform and are summarised below:

• The Strategic Regional Environmental Baseline Assessment (SREBA) for the Beetaloo Sub-Basin
• Regulation and Assessment
• Completing implementation of the Inquiry recommendations
• Information management and community engagement.

Updates on implementation of recommendations from the Final Report of the Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing are available on the Hydraulic Fracturing website.

1. SREBA
2. Regulation and Assessment
3. Completing implementation of Inquiry recommendations
4. Information Management and Community Engagement

Independent Oversight of the Hydraulic Fracturing Implementation Progress update Nov 2020 to Apr 2021

The role of the Independent Overseer is to provide the Chief Minister and NT Government with independent advice on how the implementation of the recommendations from the Inquiry is progressing and being managed. The nature of this role requires the Independent Officer to remain at arms-length from day-to-day decisions and processes relating to implementation.

The Chief Minister approved the extension of Dr Ritchie’s term as Independent Overseer until 31 December 2021 to see out implementation of Hydraulic Fracturing Inquiry recommendations.

Dr David Ritchie, has provided comment on the progress of implementation outlined in the latest six-monthly update.

Overall, Dr Ritchie found that implementation continues satisfactorily in accordance with the findings of the Inquiry.

Read Dr Ritchie’s full advice on the Hydraulic Fracturing website

To contact the Independent Officer, email Dr David Ritchie at independent.oversight@nt.gov.au

What’s next?

The NT Government is progressing from stage two to stage three of the Implementation Plan for most of the Hydraulic Fracturing Inquiry recommendations. Stage three recommendations are mostly relating to larger projects that are anticipated to be delivered by December 2022. Progress updates will be announced through six-monthly community bulletins as Stage 3 of the Implementation Plan continues.

Want to find out more?

To find out about opportunities to engage in consultation or to keep up to date with status of implementation of each recommendations, sign up for regular updates on the website: www.hydraulicfracturing.nt.gov.au by email: hydraulic.fracturing@nt.gov.au

Please direct all correspondence to:
Hydraulic Fracturing Inquiry Implementation Taskforce
GPO Box 4396, Darwin NT 0801
T 08 8999 6573
E hydraulic.fracturing@nt.gov.au
W hydraulicfracturing.nt.gov.au