The Operator of the Mereenie Joint Venture, Central Petroleum Ltd (ASX:CTP) (“Central”) has advised that mobilisation of the Ventia 101 Rig to the Mereenie Field in Permit OL4/OL5, within the Amadeus Basin, has been completed and the West Mereenie -29 development well spudded on 5 December 2024.

West Mereenie-29 (WM-29) is the first of two wells being drilled in the current campaign at Mereenie. The well is scheduled to take circa 30 days to drill to a primary target depth of 1,450mMD in the Pacoota-3 sandstone.

Following WM-29, the Ventia Rig will move to the West Mereenie -30 (WM-30) location and drill the second of the two wells. WM-30 is similarly scheduled for circa 30 days to drill to the primary target Pacoota-3 sandstone at an estimated depth of approximately 1,681mMD.

These wells are part of the Joint Venture’s ongoing appraisal/development of the Mereenie field and are intended to increase gas production to meet Northern Territory market demand. These wells target a material portion of our 7PJ Mereenie 2P Undeveloped gas Reserves (net to ECH as per our 2024 Annual Report*), and we are expected to start bringing the wells online in Q1 2025.

Please see attached Central Petroleum (Operator of the Mereenie Field) media release for further details.

Echelon CEO, Andrew Jefferies, commented that “The Joint Venture has worked together to optimise the drilling technique for these wells over the last couple of years. It is exciting to see the rig hove to and get drilling. We hope to have the gas from these wells hooked up and cooking up your Quandong Chutney. Gas it’s the fuel for tomorrow, today.”

Participants in Permit OL4/OL5 are Central Petroleum Mereenie Pty Ltd as trustee of the Central Petroleum Mereenie Unit Trust (25%), Echelon Mereenie Pty Ltd (42.5%), Cue Mereenie Pty Ltd (7.5%) and Horizon Australia Energy Pty Ltd (25%).

To view the full news release, click here.

Source: Echelon Resources