Project Range

Central’s wholly-owned subsidiary Central Petroleum Eastern Pty Ltd was awarded ATP2031 in August 2018 for a term of 12 years.

Incitec Pivot Queensland Gas Pty Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Incitec Pivot Limited) gained a 50% interest in the tenement by funding an exploration programme through 2019.

The Range Gas Project covers an area of 77km² and contains 270 PJ of 2C contingent gas resources (135 PJ net to Central) surrounded by major coal seam gas (CSG) developments and pipeline infrastructure.

Exploration results from four wells drilled in 2019 confirmed 30m of average net coal thickness and permeability in line with, or better than expectations, indicating that this is a highly prospective CSG block:

• • deep enough for gas content
  • shallow enough for permeability
  • three target production zones
  • enhanced by a structural nose (folds) evident through the block

The 270 PJ of 2C contingent gas resources are the highest sub-class of contingent resources – “Development Pending”. Central has a high confidence of converting these 2C resources to 2P reserves as remaining requirements all relate to traditional FID activities:

• • development plans
  • gas supply agreements
  • access to infrastructure
  • commitment to develop

In addition, there are a number of favourable commercial and technical factors supporting a successful outcome:

• • adjacent to established CSG fields
  • CSG development and operations are well-understood in this area
  • access to nearby pipeline infrastructure
  • suitable for lower-cost, unfracked vertical wells

Central is targeting a final investment decision (FID) in 2021. Necessary activities for front-end engineering and design, regulatory approvals, commercial agreements and financing were paused in March 2020 due to COVID-19 market disruptions and are expected to resume later in 2020 when business conditions permit.

A three well appraisal pilot is planned for CY2020 to gather additional data for the field development.

Gas production from the Range Gas Project is reserved for domestic use, and Central is targeting 2022 for the first gas supplies to east coast gas customers.