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L&M Energy discovers gassy coal at depth near Ohai
27 April 2010 - One of the deepest wells reported in New Zealand coal seam gas exploration has found thick deep sequences of gassy coal near Ohai in western Southland in PEP 38220.
Sources: L&M Energy and Lindsay Clark
L&M Energy Ltd said it has intersected approximately 28 m of coal in its OM-4 well including 19 m of gassy coal from the Cretaceous Morley coal measures from 758 m and about 9 m from the Beaumont coal measures from 597 m.
The Washington core rig was nearing 1,000 m with target depth at basement at estimated 1,100 m.
L&M Energy said the results so far were very encouraging.
Approximately 51 m of desorption samples were taken for gas content and further laboratory analysis from the 28 m of coal.
OM-4 is a 2 km westerly step out from previous drilling and should materially extend 3P reserves. L&M previously booked an initial resource of 173 (PJ) at its PEP 38220 at Ohai in what it described as the country’s first independently verified coal seam gas resource.
The OM-4 well was programmed to be drilled to basement (originally estimated at 1,100 m) to tie existing seismic lines and test for additional coal measures below the target Morley seams in the Ohai basin. OM-4 will be the first well to reach basement in this portion of the prospect and will therefore confirm the extent of the coal bearing sequence in the area.
Kent Anson managing director of coal seam gas for L&M Energy said that generally speaking deep coal seams contained a higher volume of coal seam gas than shallower seams.
L&M Energy said that upon reaching total depth the well would be geophysically logged and then suspended for future re-completion as a production well.
Within the next six months the work programme for the Ohai area will include the drilling of a three to five well pilot programme to establish the company’s first tranche of 2P reserves and realise the identified near term commercialisation opportunities with industrial gas off-take partners.
Immediately following the completion of OM-4, the rig will be mobilised to the North Island to complete the core section of the Te Kuiti-1 well in PEP 50348 (South Waikato), as well as the Heao-1 and Maclure-1 wells in the adjoining PEP 51244 (Ohura River).
