Two drilling rigs have been contracted to expedite the drilling program over a three month period, with stacked Rangal and Fort Cooper coal measures at target depths ranging from 250 to 750 meters.
The eight well coring and testing program over the greater Comet block is planned for both the Rangal and Fort Cooper coal measures, with the aim of substantially increasing 3P certified gas reserves and upgrading 2C resources to 3P certified gas reserves.
John De Stefani, Bow Energy’s chief executive officer commercial said, “This is the start of an active drilling schedule which will be followed with a similar program at Bow’s Norwich Park block, which is also in the prospective Bowen Basin CSG fairway. Bow expects to deliver a significant increase in 3P certified gas reserves from this program, and also obtain positive permeability results to drive ahead with our 2P program as soon as possible.“
De Stefani said nearby projects targeting the same coal measures by established producers gave Bow added confidence in the success of its planned drilling program. Immediately east of the Comet block, BG Group plc (BG Group) Dingonose-Duckworth CSG Project has certified 1,213PJ of 3P reserves over both the Rangal and upper Fort Cooper coal measures.
Adjacent to and immediately west of the Comet block, BG Group’s Atria CSG project has primarily targeted the lower Fort Cooper coal measures, with this field interpreted to extend into Bow’s Comet block. High gas contents of up to 25m3/tonne has been reported in the Fort Cooper coals at Atria by Sunshine Gas prior to its merger with Queensland Gas Company.
Arrow Energy Limited recently announced its first gas flows from the Fort Cooper coal measures in the Bowen basin, and also high gas flow rates in excess of 1 million cubic feet per day in the Rangal coal measures in the South Walker CSG project, close to Bow’s Norwich Park block.
These gas flows were from coal seams previously interpreted as having low gas flow rate capability and as a result, Bow has rerated the CSG targets for this coal measure in its Bowen Basin blocks.
Bow Energy’s drilling program includes an extensive testing program on the major coal intersections aimed at identifying potential high flow rate spots across the Comet block, providing valuable data to determine the optimal 2P testing program.
De Stefani said, “Bow Energy is targeting 750 PJ of 3P certified reserves by the end of this year and 1,900 PJ of 3P by the end of 2010, and given our quality acreage, gas reserve discovery precedents by other nearby CSG projects, proven technical team and sufficient funding in place we are confident of reaching our targets. Long-term energy demand from Asia remains strong, and Bow’s projects put the company in an excellent position to supply the developing export LNG industry planned for Gladstone, as we move to monetize our substantial gas resource for the benefit of shareholders.”
