‘Major milestone’: Botala Energy’s Serowe-3.1 well flares gas

Flow-testing at BTE’s Serowe-3.1 well reaches appraisal milestone
Serowe-3.1 is an important contributor to the Independently Certified 2C resource and representative of its CBM geology
Flow-testing equipment has been shipped from Brisbane to Botswana to prepare the Serowe-7 well for flow test commissioning, set to take place in November

In an exciting development for the Serowe project in Botswana, Botala Energy and joint venture partner Pure Hydrogen have produced sustainable gas flow from the local coals at the Serowe-3.1 well.

Botala Energy (ASX:BTE) is exploring and developing production of coal bed methane (CBM) from its 70% owned Serowe CBM project, in a high-grade CBM region of Botswana.

The explorer believes there are considerable opportunities to commercialise CBM due to the reliable and affordable electricity and liquified natural gas (LNG) in Botswana, as well as neighbouring countries.

As operator of the Serowe project, it has added six (with the seventh now underway) wells to the single well drilled by the previous operator and defined a best estimate (2C) Contingent Resource of 317 billion cubic feet of gas – enough to fuel Botswana’s existing gas power station at Orapa for about 20 years.

Paves way for lower costs

In an exciting move for Serowe’s development, BTE successfully flared gas over 22 minutes measuring a change in pressure of 22 pounds per square inch (psi) and an instantaneous flow rate of 42 thousand standard cubic feet (Mscfd).

While coal seams typically require stimulation work before being able to flow gas at commercial levels, that Botala’s Serowe 3.1 well has been able to flare gas without this is a notable achievement and bodes well for low project development costs.

‘Above expectations’

“These results are above expectations,” BTE CEO Kris Martinick says.

“This indicates the coals in our licences can produce gas and we are continuing to see a consistent buildup of pressure and increased gas flow-rate from the Serowe-3.1 well.

“It’s very exciting as this is a single well which is providing encouraging data for Project Pitse, where we are targeting production of a commercial flowrate potential from 4 additional wells.”

What’s next?

The Serowe-3.1 well test was “open hole” meaning it is open to all three coal seams.

Testing of the individual seams will be undertaken as part of Project Pitse.

The well has significantly increased Botala’s confidence in the commercial pilot program and will be shut-in to allow the pressure to continue to build up for further flow-testing.

Meanwhile, flow-testing equipment has been shipped from Brisbane to Botswana to prepare the Serowe-7 well for flow test commissioning, set to take place in November.

This article was developed in collaboration with Botala Energy, 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.