Cooper Energy Limited says that the acquisition of a 50 percent interest in the Sole gas field in the Gippsland Basin and Orbost Gas Plant announced Dec. 15, 2014 has been completed with the project entering Front End Engineering and Design (FEED).

Completion of the acquisition has resulted in Cooper Energy booking 2C Contingent Resources of 106 petajoules (PJ) of sales gas, as advised in a separate announcement today. The VIC/RL3 joint venture, which comprises Cooper Energy and Santos Limited, will now work to completion of FEED for a Final Investment Decision (FID) in the September quarter 2016.

Cooper Energy Managing Director David Maxwell said that the commencement of FEED was a significant milestone for the project and the company. “Together with Santos we are now working on completing the detailed analysis, design and costing necessary for the decision on developing the Sole gas field” he said. Maxwell noted that the company’s confidence in the project had been reinforced by market conditions. “The current outlook is very encouraging, with gas prices and field development costs trending favorably for economic development of Sole.”

Tags: Cooper Energy