Australian firm Cooper Energy has announced the start of gas flow from the Sole gas field located offshore Victoria, Australia to the onshore processing plant, marking a critical milestone for the second and final commissioning phase.
Located in water depths ranging between 120m and 130m in the Gippsland Basin, the field lies 65km away from the onshore Orbost Gas Processing Plant.
The transferred gas is being used to commission the plant’s raw gas processing facilities.
Orbost Gas Plant to produce 68TJ/day
Owned by APA Group, the Orbost Gas Plant has been undergoing an extensive upgrade with an investment of A$250m ($177.5m). It will have the capacity to produce 68TJ/day, once all construction work is completed.
Production at the field is expected to increase gradually as the final commissioning phase progress towards completion, Cooper Energy noted.
The firm said in a statement: “Satisfaction of the commissioning activities will enable commencement of gas supply from Sole to the customers under long term contracts.”
The Sole gas field will have the capacity to produce 25 petajoules (PJ) per annum gross over a period of eight years.
Last year, Cooper Energy signed an agreement with Visy for the supply of 7.6 PJ of gas from Sole field for a three-year period, with an option to extend for further three years.
Visy is privately owned packaging and resource recovery company. It operates more than 120 sites across Australia, New Zealand and Thailand.
Commenting on the deal, Cooper Energy managing director David Maxwell said: “Visy joins O-I Australia as the second large industrial manufacturer supplied by Cooper Energy. We are delighted to add another industrial user of gas to our customer portfolio under a multi-year supply agreement.”
