Tenements

ATP 855

Location
ATP 855 is located in the Cooper-Eromanga Basin on the eastern side of the Queensland and South Australian border. PRL's 33-49 are adjacent to ATP 855 on the western side of the border and both permits share part of the Nappamerri Trough. ATP 855 is located in the Nappamerri Trough, the largest of the six troughs within the Cooper Basin. The tenement covers the deepest part of the trough, containing the thickest sequence of Permian sediments in the entire Cooper Basin. It is within these sediments that a very large, unconventional, basin-centred gas resource has been discovered that extends across the entire tenement. ATP 855 occupies a total area of 1,679km².

Interest Held
Icon Energy - 100%

Prospect Type
Conventional and unconventional oil and gas.

Update on ATP 855
Icon has 100% interest in, and is Operator of, the ATP 855 tenement and the basin-centred gas resource that it contains. The permit is currently half way through a four year Later Work Program and is compliant in all areas of operation and reporting.

Icon announced on 28 August 2017 that, pursuant to Section 90(1) of the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004, DNRM had declared Potential Commercial Areas (PCAs) over the entire ATP 855 tenement. The PCAs, numbered PCA 172 to 179 (refer to the map below), are for a period of 15 years and are designed to enable Icon to retain an interest in and ultimately develop the large volume of gas that has been discovered.

Eight PCA’s are required to cover the entire ATP 855 permit. Each PCA can be no larger than three graticular blocks, which is the equivalent of 75 sub-blocks or 229 square kilometres in area. Each PCA has an associated Commercial Viability Report that reflects Icon’s belief that the area is likely to be commercial within 15 years, and an Evaluation Program, that outlines the strategy that Icon will adopt to appraise and develop the resource.

Stage 1 of the exploration program identified a significant natural gas resource within the Permian Formations of the Nappamerri Trough and achieved all technical objectives. These included:

  • Discovering a significant natural gas resource and delineating its extent; all six wells were gas discovery wells.
  • Testing fracture stimulation techniques; five wells were successfully fracture stimulated.
  • Identifying and prioritizing play types for future appraisal activities.
  • Flowing gas and testing deliverability; all stimulated wells flowed gas to surface, with Halifax 1 achieving the highest recorded flow rate of 4.5 MMscf/d from a basin-centred gas well in Australia.
  • Achieving a Contingent Resource booking.

Currently the gas resource estimates within ATP 855, as determined by DeGolyer and MacNaughton, are 28.5 Trillion Cubic Feet (Tcf) of P50 Gross Unconventional Prospective Raw Natural Gas Resource[1] over the whole permit, and 1.57 Tcf of 2C Contingent Resource[2] determined within defined areas surrounding the five wells already tested. These resource estimates were evaluated in accordance with the Petroleum Resources Management System (March 2007).

Icon is currently preparing for the next stage of activity in ATP 855 to conduct further exploration, evaluation and appraisal of the gas resource with the express purpose of demonstrating commerciality. Demonstration of commerciality would lead to proven gas reserves, progressive conversion of blocks to production licences and a substantial development program, which could support the domestic gas market in Eastern Australia and, ultimately, lead to export contracts.

[1] Icon Energy announced on 19 June 2014, that DeGolyer and MacNaughton, a well-respected and qualified international petroleum reserve and resource evaluation company, estimated that the Unconventional Prospective Raw Natural Gas Resource was 28.5 (P50) Tcf. Unconventional Prospective Resources are defined as those quantities of petroleum that are estimated, as of a given date, to be potentially recoverable from undiscovered unconventional accumulations by application of future development projects. Unconventional Prospective Resources may exist in petroleum accumulations that are pervasive throughout a large potential production area and would not be significantly affected by hydrodynamic influences (also called continuous-type deposits). The estimated quantities of petroleum that may potentially be recovered by the application of a future development project relate to undiscovered accumulations. These estimates have both an associated risk of discovery and a risk of development. Further exploration appraisal and evaluation is required to determine the existence of a significant quantity of potentially moveable hydrocarbons. These Unconventional Prospective Resources are based on probabilistic estimates for each target formation and these have been statistically aggregated.

[2] Icon Energy announced on 27 March 2015, that DeGolyer and MacNaughton, a well-respected and qualified international petroleum reserve and resource evaluation company, estimated that, the 2C Recoverable Gross Contingent Resource was 1,572 Bcf or 1.57 Tcf. Contingent Resources are those quantities of wet gas (produced gas minus carbon dioxide) that are potentially recoverable from known accumulations, but which are not considered to be commercially recoverable due to the need for additional delineation drilling, further validation of deliverability and original hydrocarbon in place (OHIP), and confirmation of prices and development costs. This is based on a statistical aggregation method using Monte Carlo simulation estimates for each formation.

 

For the latest information on Icon Energy’s activities, view our Latest Announcements section here.