Offshore staff
MELBOURNE, Australia -- The semisubmersible Ocean Epoch has been secured to drill the Libra prospect in exploration permit AC/P41 in the Browse basin, offshore Western Australia, according to Nexus Energy.
The rig is expected to arrive on location by early October to drill the exploration well and will be operated by Shell Development (Australia).
The Libra-1 exploration well will take approximately 33 days to drill and will test the possible southern extension of the Crux field into the AC/P41 permit, the company says. Nexus' estimate of pre-drill most-likely gross recoverable resource for Libra stands at 500 bcf of gas and 19 MMbbl of condensate. Nexus also believes that a successful result at Libra-1 would enhance the likelihood of encountering hydrocarbons in the Auriga and Caelum prospects within AC/P23.
"Nexus is pleased that Shell has obtained a firm rig slot for Libra and looks forward to drilling this potentially high-impact prospect," says Ian Tchacos, Nexus' MD.
"We map the potential for over 6 tcf of gas resource with the potential for in excess of 200 MMbbl of associated condensate across AC/P23 and AC/P41in the greater Crux area, which we believe is sufficient volume to justify an LNG development should exploration prove successful. Nexus looks forward to working with Shell on the Libra prospect which we view as an important step towards confirming an LNG scale resource at Crux."
09/08/2008
