There are painfully few oil and gas juniors that operate exclusively offshore, but as Tamaska’s latest independent estimate proves, the rewards can make it all worth it.
Energy consultancy ERCE has certified prospective recoverable resources for the multiple stacked intervals at the company’s Napoleon prospect in the Dampier Basin, North West Shelf that highlight its world-class potential.
The primary target Napoleon 197T interval has been estimated to host mean resources of 1.5 trillion standard cubic feet of gas and 66.1 million barrels of condensate with Tamaska Oil and Gas’ (ASX:TMK) 20% share accounting for 223 billion standard cubic feet of gas and 9.7MMbbl of condensate.
Geological chance of success has been estimated around 24% while the three secondary target intervals could add a further 87Bscf and 3.7MMbbl to the company’s tally if they are all successful.
Importantly, a successful discovery can be quickly monetised given that production licence WA-8-L is located close to existing infrastructure off Western Australia’s North West coast.
“We engaged ERCE to provide us with an independent assessment of Napoleon and are delighted that it has confirmed a world class gas condensate target,” technical advisor Dariusz Jablonski said.
He added that the mean gross unrisked prospective resource for the primary 197T target of 1.5Tcf of gas and 66 million barrels confirmed in the company’s view that a “large, exciting exploration play” is present in shallow water right within the heart of the North-West Shelf.
“Proximity to existing infrastructure substantially increases the potential viability.”
And this might be a conservative figure as Jablonski noted that the distribution of seismic amplitudes and seismic inversion provided hydrocarbon and gas/water contact indications that favoured the unrisked high estimate of 3.5Tcf of gas and 151MMbbl of condensate in the 197T target.
“This larger closure has structural analogues such at the lower Jurassic Caribou-Gnu-Reindeer and potentially Corvus discoveries and represents a very large upside case,” Jablonski explained.
Napoleon and future plans
Napoleon is a simple, large structure that sits in a proven productive reservoir at a depth of about 4,200m.
Water depths are just between 80m to 90m, meaning that drilling can be carried out using jack-up drill rigs rather than semi-submersible drill rigs that can cost more than twice as much to utilise.
Drilling has been estimated to cost $41.1 million on a dry hole basis, which is a well that is not completed for production.
Tamaska and operator Skye Napoleon will now apply for a drilling permit for an exploration well at the prospect.
The company will also move to convert its 20% interest in Skye Napoleon into a direct 20% working interest in the project while Skye Napoleon proceeds with a farm-out of its 80% interest.
This article was developed in collaboration with Tamaska Oil and Gas, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.