Ensign rig spuds first well in Central Petroleum’s Palm Valley program

Central Petroleum spudded the PV14 well at its Palm Valley gas field in the Northern Territory using Ensign Rig 974 on 25 July 2026, marking the start of a two-well appraisal drilling program. PV14 is the first of two lateral appraisal wells based on the design of the PV13 and PV12 wells, completed in 2019 and 2022 respectively.

The campaign is expected to take approximately four and a half months, with first gas sales from PV14 targeted for October 2026. The two wells aim to restore Palm Valley plant sales capacity to about 14 TJ/d and deliver at least 10 PJ of gas over their operating lives.