Ensign Rig 974 moves to Palm Valley 15 after Central’s PV14 flow test
Central Petroleum flow-tested its Palm Valley 14 (PV14) well in the Amadeus Basin of Australia’s Northern Territory and recorded a final estimated gas rate of about 3.2 terajoules per day (TJ/d) on a 100% joint venture basis, with no water or oil recovered. The 90-minute test ran through a 3/4-in. choke, and the rate was still rising slowly at a flowing tubing head pressure of 210 psi. Central described the result as below target and below recent wells PV12 and PV13.
PV14 is a conventional deviated well targeting the Pacoota sandstone, with a total depth of 2,942 m measured depth (2,096 m true vertical depth). It encountered 200 m of gross pay and 45 m of net pay, and no hydraulic fracturing was performed.
A final packer was set at 2,729 m to isolate expected water entry points, but later flows to vacuum at surface showed water. That could be residual standing water that clears over time, as at PV12, or water entering above the isolated section, which could require more packers or, in the worst case, halt production.
Central expects an initial rate of about 3-4 TJ/d at typical gathering system backpressure, excluding any future clean-up or water ingress.
PV14 is being completed as a gas producer, with tie-in to the Palm Valley production facility and gathering network expected within weeks and commissioning before the end of October. Ensign Rig 974 will then move to PV15, about 2.3 km away at surface, to target the southern flank of the Palm Valley anticline closer to the field crest and further up-dip from possible water sources.
The two-well campaign aims to restore plant sales capacity to about 14 TJ/d and deliver at least 10 petajoules of gas over the wells’ lives. Central holds 50% of the OL3 permit, with Echelon Resources at 35% and Cue Energy Resources at 15%.
