Central Petroleum Ltd. and joint venture partners will drill two development wells in the Mereenie oil and gas field in the Amadeus Basin, Northern Territory, Australia.

The joint venture is working to develop additional resources to supply the east coast gas market. The decision to invest in the new development wells followed the signing of gas sales agreements with the Northern Territory Government (NTG GSA), the company said in a news release on August 15.

The Mereenie development wells are expected to increase the field’s production capacity from the current 27 TJ/d to over 30 TJ/d and produce at least 25 PJ of gas over their life of production. Tight gas from the new wells is expected to be sold into the recently constructed NTG GSA, which can be expanded by up to 6 TJ/d upon completion of the drilling.

The drilling is expected to last 30 days each and will target the top of the Pacoota 3 (P3) reservoir (at a depth of approximately 1,500 metres) to optimise productivity and gas recovery from the field, the company said.

Central, as operator, has signed a contract with Ventia Australia Pty Ltd. to drill the two new Mereenie wells, West Mereenie 29 and 30, using Rig 101. Drilling is scheduled to begin towards the end of the year, with gas production expected to start in the first half of 2025.