BP gains environmental green light for Ironbark-1

BP plans to spud Ironbark-1 off Western Australia in this year’s third quarter following approval of its environmental plan by the Australian National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA).

The well, in permit WA-359-P, will be drilled 170 km off Karratha in about 300 metres of water using the Ocean Apex drilling rig.

The prospect is 50 km from the North Rankin gas platform and also close to Pluto and Wheatstone fields. The well is expected to take about 100 days to drill, evaluate, plug, and abandon.

Ironbark could hold up to 15 tcf of gas across multiple target within the Triassic-age Mungaroo formation, a reservoir which hosts commercial discoveries on the North West Shelf, including Gorgon, Goodwyn, North Rankin, and Perseus fields.

Ironbark-1 will be drilled to a total depth of 5,500 metres which will be the deepest offshore well ever drilled in Australia.

BP is operator of the joint venture with 41.5%. Beach Energy has 21%, Cue Energy 21.5%, and New Zealand Oil and Gas 15%.

Source: Oil & Gas Journal