Emperor Energy Ltd (ASX:EMP) is incrementally piecing together, step by step, the Judith Gas Field Project in Victoria, according to director Phil McNamara.
In a quarterly activities report, he said the next major project milestone would be securing an exploration and production partner for the drilling of the Judith 2 Well.
McNamara said: “In late 2020 Emperor Energy significantly reduced Permit Risk when the relevant government authority, NOPTA, extended the Permit Term for the Judith Gas Field.
“In January 2021, we have seen completion of the project Pre-Feasibility by APA thus providing clarity on the proposed plant site, approvals process, scheduling and project costs.
“In early April 2021 we secured a licence to an ultra-modern set of Seismic Data across Judith that provides us with far greater clarity in interpretation of the Resource.”
“Step by step Emperor Energy is incrementally piecing this project together with our next major milestone to be securing an Exploration and Production Partner for the drilling of the Judith 2 Well.”
Completion of Pre-FEED
During the quarter, the Pre-Front End Engineering Design (Pre-FEED) was completed for the provision of midstream infrastructure and services related to gas that will potentially be produced from the Judith Gas Field in the 100% Emperor Energy owned VIC/P47 Permit in the offshore Gippsland Basin, Victoria.
The pre-FEED was completed by APA Group and is the first stage of work to be progressed from an MoU established between the companies in October 2019.
APA carried out this work using a balanced combination of in-house and external expertise.
The design basis was 80 million standard cubic feet per day of sales gas across a 25-year project life with gas processing to meet the AS4564 gas sales specification.
This is based on four initial production wells with a fifth well introduced in Year 15 to maintain delivery pressures.
Well delivery rates are based on Gas Reservoir Dynamic Modelling previously completed by independent reservoir engineering consultants engaged by Emperor Energy.
Pipeline and termination
According to the company, the subsea design allows for flexible jumper lines to transport raw gas from each wellhead to a six-slot manifold where all gas is collected and delivered in a single stream to the Pipeline End Termination.
The latter provides the interface to a 40 kilometres x 300 millimetres nominal bore pipeline delivering raw gas to the proposed Judith Processing Plant.
This pipeline selection provides a suitable balance between friction loss, economics, slugging and ramp-up rates.
A 40-kilometre subsea control Umbilical from subsea wells to the proposed new Judith field gas processing train at the site of the existing Orbost Gas Processing Plant (pictured above) runs in parallel to the pipeline.
Design of the Judith processing plant is based on using available space adjacent to the existing Orbost plant to construct a separate gas train tailored to the Judith gas composition. There will be operating synergies with the existing gas plant.
The gas would be delivered through 11 kilometres x 250 millimetres Nominal Bore export pipeline running in parallel with the existing Orbost export pipeline, which would then deliver gas to an upgraded Newmerella gas metering station connecting into the Eastern Gas Pipeline.
The Eastern Gas Pipeline is a key gas supply artery between the Gippsland Basin in Victoria and NSW and transports natural gas to Sydney, Canberra and Wollongong as well as a number of regional centres.
Project execution and scheduling
The Pre-FEED study provides a project execution plan laying out the basis for project delivery organisation, procurement strategy, contracting strategy, fabrication methodology, logistics, construction methodology, commissioning, and testing.
The key regulatory approvals required for the project are identified and a detailed project schedule has been analysed.
The study indicates that a Final Investment Decision (FID) could be achieved 14 months after commencing the project front end engineering design (FEED) otherwise referred to as a full feasibility study.
Commercial operation could then be achieved within a further 38 months of the FID.
A budget estimate of the cost of the FEED has been forecast at A$9 million.
New Seismic Data analysis
Last month, Emperor Energy completed a commercial agreement with global seismic company CGG for the purchase of a licence to access newly acquired 3D seismic data covering the Judith Gas Field and Greater Judith Structure.
This new seismic data was acquired by CGG in 2020 as part of a multi-client 3D Seismic Survey that covered much of the Offshore Gippsland Basin, including the Judith Gas Field.
The survey was carried out using state-of-the-art equipment and techniques incorporating 7000-metre-long acquisition cables, generating the highest quality reservoir resolution ever seen in the Gippsland Basin.
Already, Emperor’s team of consulting geologists and geophysicists have confirmed the acquired data represents a major improvement in quality, as well as providing high definition across the Judith Gas Field and much of the Greater Judith Structure.
Seismic sections across the Judith Gas Field indicate that high amplitude/low impedance responses are well developed in the sections correlating with the Judith gas sands intersected in the Judith-1 well and can be seen extending significantly up-dip into the Greater Judith Structure from the original Judith-1 gas discovery drilled in 1989 by Shell.