The state’s first new gasfield to begin production in a decade, off the coast of Port Campbell, is now thought to hold much less gas than first thought.
Victoria’s first new gasfield to begin production in almost a decade has been downgraded and is now believed to hold vastly less gas than first thought, driving a sharp sell-off in the Kerry Stokes-backed Beach Energy on Monday.
The surprise downgrade, revealed as the Adelaide-based oil and gas producer reported it had slumped to a full-year loss, sent its shares tumbling more than 11 per cent in early trade. The Enterprise gasfield, discovered in 2021, secured a Victorian government production licence this year, the first to be granted in the state since 2014.The project’s start-up came at an important time: gas users in Victoria and NSW have been put on high alert for supply shortfalls this winter after the Australian Energy Market Operator issued a rare “threat to system security” notice as a bout of cold weather collided with an outage at a key Gippsland gas-processing plant.
However, Enterprise also encountered significant pushback from some community groups and conservationists due to fossil fuels’ contribution to greenhouse gas emissions that are driving the worsening climate crisis, and the field’s proximity to the Twelve Apostles marine sanctuary. The downgrade of Enterprise’s reserves – by 11.5 million barrels of oil equivalent – dragged down Beach Energy’s company-wide “proven and probable reserves” by about 20 per cent from its prior assessment.
In a boost to gas supplies, global energy giant Shell and partner PetroChina announced on Monday they would expand their Surat coal seam gas project in Queensland. The second phase of their Arrow Energy joint venture’s Surat gas project was expected to produce 22,400 barrels of oil equivalent a day, to be directed both to local buyers and for liquefied natural gas customers in Asia, the companies said.
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