2.3.4.1 Developing the coal resource development pathway


The coal resource development pathway (CRDP) for the Cooper subregion has been defined based on the information provided in companion product 1.2 for the Cooper subregion (Smith et al., 2015). The approach used to define the CRDP is based on companion submethodology M04 (as listed in Table 1) for developing a CRDP (Lewis, 2014).

There is no coal mining or stand-alone CSG production occurring in the Cooper subregion as of December 2012. As a result, the baseline does not contain any coal resource developments, for the purposes of companion submethodology M05 (as listed in Table 1) for developing the conceptual model of causal pathways (Henderson et al., 2016).

As identified in companion product 1.2 for the Cooper subregion (Smith et al., 2015), the only potential coal resource development in the subregion is the Southern Cooper Basin Gas Project, situated in the Weena Trough (Figure 25, Table 8). Coal seams in the Patchawarra Formation of the geological Cooper Basin at depths of around 1900 to 2100 m are production targets at this prospect. This potential CSG project is estimated to contain a prospective resource of 7375 PJ[1] (Strike Energy Limited, 2014a) according to the Guidelines for Application of the Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS; Society of Petroleum Engineers, 2011), and is currently undergoing production testing at the Klebb and Le Chiffre sites (Strike Energy Limited, 2015b) (shown in Figure 25). Production testing at Klebb-1, Klebb-2, Klebb-3 and Le Chiffre-1 has shown that commercial flows can be anticipated from the resource area. A 2C resource (classification according to the PRMS) has been estimated for Le Chiffre-1 and Klebb-1, for a combined 2C resource of 168.6 PJ and a 3C resource of 244.8 PJ:

  • Le Chiffre-1 Patchawarra Vu Upper and Vu Lower zone 2C: 101.1 PJ
  • Klebb-1 Patchawarra Vu Upper Zone 2C: 67.5 PJ (Strike Energy Limited, 2015a).

Figure 25

Figure 25 Location of Southern Cooper Basin Gas Project in the coal resource development pathway (CRDP) and current production test wells for the Cooper subregion

The extent of the coal resource developments in the CRDP is the union of the extents in the baseline and in the additional coal resource development. For the Cooper subregion, the extent of the additional coal resource development, Southern Cooper Basin Gas Project, is equal to the extent of the CRDP.

PEL = petroleum exploration licence

Data: Bioregional Assessment Programme (Dataset 1, Dataset 2), SA Department of State Development (Dataset 8, Dataset 9)

Southern Cooper Basin Gas Project location © Strike Energy

Table 8 Summary table for existing operations and proposed developments in the baseline and coal resource development pathway for the Cooper subregion

The primary activity in bioregional assessments (BAs) is the comparison of two potential futures: (i) the baseline coal resource development (baseline), a future that includes all coal mines and coal seam gas (CSG) fields that are commercially producing as of December 2012; and (ii) the coal resource development pathway (CRDP), a future that includes all coal mines and CSG fields that are in the baseline as well as those that are expected to begin commercial production after December 2012. The difference between CRDP and baseline is the change that is primarily reported in a BA. This change is due to the additional coal resource development (ACRD) – all coal mines and CSG fields, including expansions of baseline operations, that are expected to begin production after December 2012.


Name

Coal mine or coal seam gas (CSG) operation

Company

Included in baseline?

Included in the coal resource development pathway (CRDP) (modelleda or commentaryb)?

Start of mining operations or estimated project start

Projected mine life or estimated project life

Total defined coal (Mt) or coal seam gas resource (PJ)

Comments

Southern Cooper Basin Gas Project (PEL 96)

Coal seam gas field

Strike Energy Limited (JV with Australian Gasfields Ltd)

N

Y – Commentary (no modelling being undertaken in Cooper subregion)

2017c

20 yearse

2C: 168.6 PJ

3C: 244.8 PJd

Prospective CSG resource: 7375 PJc

Southern Cooper Basin Gas Project (PEL 96) is currently undergoing pilot production testing and has defined 2C and 3C contingent resources. This, combined with publicly available material from the company, suggests that future development of the field is likely. Production is planned to commence during 2020 or 2021.

a‘Modelled’ indicates those developments that are numerically modelled in this bioregional assessment.

b‘Commentary’ indicates those developments for which only commentary is provided because they cannot be modelled.

cStrike Energy Limited (2014a)

dStrike Energy Limited (2015a)

eStrike Energy Limited (2015b)

JV = joint venture, PEL = petroleum exploration licence

Strike Energy Limited reported the resource estimate in units of trillion cubic feet (Tcf) and billion cubic feet (Bcf), which has been converted to PJ using the conversion factor of 1.0845 PJ/Bcf, which is the conversion factor for SA and NSW gas used in Geoscience Australia and BREE (2012).

A development timeline is provided in Figure 26. It is anticipated that the project will enter production sometime during 2020 or 2021, after a period of development and a production demonstration facility, and will have a production life of 20 years (Strike Energy Limited, 2015d).

Figure 26

Figure 26 Timeline for Southern Cooper Basin Gas Project in the Cooper subregion

Source: Strike Energy Limited (2014b; 2014c; 2015d)

Last updated:
31 October 2018