Welcome to Central Petroleum Limited
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Overview
Central Petroleum Limited is an ASX listed junior exploration and production company operating the largest holding of prospective onshore acreage in Australia totalling over 270,000 km2, c.70 million acres. This acreage includes permits already awarded and acreage under application with 250,000 km2 under the Petroleum Acts and 20,000 km2 under the Mining Acts mainly in the Northern Territory with smaller holdings in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland.
The acreage is entirely onshore and because of this, drilling costs are a fraction of those generally encountered offshore. The Company operates this acreage in one of the most fiscally and politically stable countries in the world, Australia.
The Company's main goal is to maximise shareholder returns by enhanced share value and ultimately by dividend payments. It aims to do this by operating a central Australian petroleum hub connected to appropriate infrastructure to allow the export to domestic and overseas markets of both primary energy resources and value added petroleum and helium products.
The Company plans to potentially capitalise on early cash flow from an oil discovery and is seeking to build gas resources to a threshold point where value-adding processes such as LNG and or GTL, for example, can be brought into play. With helium prices approaching $145 USD/1,000 scfg in the USA (The bulk price set by the BLM has been revised. As a result, Federal Crude Helium will be sold at $75.00 per thousand cubic feet in FY2011, compared to $64.75 in 2010, signalling a 15.8% price increase. This price covers helium debt repayment and interest and includes administrative and storage costs.) Helium production and sales are regarded as an intrinsic part of this overall strategy. Apart from conventional gas potential, the Company has had independent estimates of over 10,000 trillion cubic feet in UCG "syngas" prospective recoverable resources. Prospective recoverable resources of oil could be in excess of a billion barrels and there are large areas of coal in the Permian Pedirka basin.
The acreage includes the majority of the Pedirka Basin within the Northern Territory and South Australia, the majority of the Amadeus Basin in the Northern Territory, all of the known Lander Trough in the Northern Territory and approximately 25,000 km2 of the Southern Georgina Basin.
The Company was formed by Mr John Heugh and Mr Richard Faull in 1998 in a countercyclical strategy aimed at securing large acreage tracts with large prospective target structures in central Australia. Central Australia contains one commercial oil field and one commercial gas field with another large gas discovery remaining undeveloped. It is very probable that more commercial accumulations will be discovered, hence there is potential for the monetization of possible oil resources through trucking, rail or pipeline infrastructure. There is also potential for monetisation of possible large gas resources via Gas to Liquids (GTL) Fischer Tropsch (FT) processing to produce zero sulphur diesel, naphtha, jet fuel and LNG technology.
Very large coal accumulations present in the Pedirka Basin are also being explored with a view to examining monetisation via very large scale beneficiation and export, coal to liquids (CTL), co-generation of power and underground coal gasification (UCG). Any gas produced by UCG or coal gasification could be applied conceptually to value adding processes such as FT liquid production.
Key Points
- Robust exploration programme completed in 2009/10 with planning for another round of exploration in 2011.
- Listed on the ASX March 2nd 2006.
- Genesis of the Company 1998 when oil traded at $12/bbl.
- Biggest petroleum acreage portfolio onshore Australia comprising 60 million acres mostly 100% operated.
- Whole of basin exploration opportunities.
- Mean prospective recoverable resources 1 billion bbls and 26 TCFG in the Amadeus in unconventional reservoirs (independently evaluated)
- "Yet to find" Amadeus resources unrisked up to 35 TCFG or 6 billion barrels (NTGS 2005).
- 300 Billion tonne plus tonne coal Exploration Target Pedirka Basin.
- 10 Billion bbl and 100 TCFG UOIIP and UGIIP potential.
- Helium potential of up to 200 BCFG Helium in UGIIP Mt Kitty Prospect alone.
- Over 80 prospects and leads.
- Long range GTL plans for gas, 10,000-140,000 bbl/day pre-feasibility studies completed.
- Recently completed (Jan 2004) infrastructure direct link to Port Darwin, and existing pipeline to Darwin-possible entry to LNG potential.
- Experienced management and Board.
- Good risk spread in different basins, different play types and different commodity marketing targets i.e. gas, oil, condensate, diesel, naphtha, jet fuel, coal and Helium.
- Dramatically underexplored acreage position given an average discovery success rate of over 4 MMboe per exploration well in the Amadeus and with an average well density of c. 1 well per 5,000 square kilometres (1.2 million acres).
- Most acreage Central has a 100% net interest
Exploration Programme
The Company completed a robust exploration programme which commenced in Q4 2009 and included:
Phase One 2009/10
- 5 fully cored CSG wells Pedirka Basin >10,000 TCFG UCG.
- 1,350 line km 2D seismic (Amadeus and Pedirka Basins).
Phase Two 2010
The Company has recently drilled 3 conventional hydrocarbon wells in the Amadeus Basin
- Ooraminna - 2, low rate gas production from the Pioneer Sandstone reservoir including some helium content in the produced gas.
- Johnstone West -1 strong oil shows in the Lower Stairway Sandstone.
- Surprise-1 suspended with some oil shows successfully cored in the Lower Stairway Sandstone, independently verified flow potential 500-1,000 BOPD, plans to deepen well into main Pacoota Sandstone target.
During the next exploration programme, it is planned, subject to various contingencies, to continue an aggressive exploration programme which may include the following
- Fulfil a drilling commitment in EP-125 by drilling the Mt Kitty prospect. This is currently being reappraised with the reprocessing of seismic data which defines the structure.
- Fulfil all the exploration commitments in the remaining eight operated permits and the drilling commitment in the EP-97 farmin acreage.
- Continue planning to drill Magee-2 in EP-82. This prospect will appraise the Magee-1 gas discovery made in 1992, which flowed gas containing Helium with a 6.2% concentration.
- The drilling of several oil prospects including the re-entry and deepening of Surprise-1 to evaluate the deeper primary target zone, the Pacoota Sandstone and to core the Horn Valley Siltstone, a promising unconventional target in the Amadeus Basin.
- Additional drilling to further detail a JORC "Exploration Target" of over 300 billion tonnes in the Company's Pedirka Basin mineral permits and applications. (Note : the potential quantity and grade of the coal is conceptual in nature, there has been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the determination of a Mineral Resource.)
UGIIP : Undiscovered Gas Initially In Place ("high estimate")
UOIIP: Undiscovered Oil Initially In Place ("high estimate")
In summary, Central Petroleum holds and operates a highly prospective portfolio of under explored onshore acreage, with a variety of exploration plays spread over a number of basins, one of which hosts producing fields. Very importantly, given current oil prices it is no longer the case that only very large discoveries can be economically developed and current oil prices also encourage assessment of value adding FT and LNG value adding processing.
Rationale
The Company believes that the oil and gas potential of central Australia has been significantly overlooked and the area remains one of the true under-explored and under-developed proven petroleum provinces within Australia. To date over c. 20 MMbbls of oil and 0.5 TCFG of gas have been produced within central Australia from the Mereenie and Palm Valley fields leaving existing known resources significantly under-developed. The Northern Territory Geological Survey estimates up to 6 billion barrels of oil equivalent (35 TCFG equivalent) unrisked recoverable hydrocarbons (650 MMboe "risked") remain to be discovered in the Amadeus alone. The recently drilled Johnstone West and Surprise wells could increase this estimate as the results prove oil has been generated and trapped further to the west in the Amadeus basin than previously thought possible.
A report on a viable JORC coal "Exploration Target" of over 600 billion tonnes in the Company's Pedirka Basin petroleum acreage has been published and the Company has also taken up mineral exploration permits over most of the same petroleum acreage in the Pedirka Basin. (Note : the potential quantity and grade of the coal is conceptual in nature, there has been insufficient exploration to define a Mineral Resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the determination of a Mineral Resource.)
In addition the area may have potential for other minerals.
Since 1998, when oil traded at $12/bbl, the Company has undertaken a highly focused strategy to secure acreage in areas considered to be the most prospective for oil and gas within central Australia and will seek to increase its presence in this focus area. The Company will also pursue the acquisition of a reserve based asset or assets internal or external to this area if such opportunities can provide early monetisation to aid funding the exploration and development of the Company's current interests.
Early exploration in the 1960s by such groups as the French Petroleum Company, (a wholly owned subsidiary of Total), Santos, Beach Petroleum and North Broken Hill produced some encouraging results. Indeed Magellan and others discovered the still producing Mereenie and Palm Valley oil and gas fields which at one time were Australia's biggest onshore oil and gas fields with over 140 MMbbls of oil equivalent in reserves.
Several factors conspired to thwart development of central Australia from the 1960s to the advent of Central Petroleum's current strategy. These factors included the remoteness of the region, the relatively unattractive economics of developing sales gas for transport by pipeline to the east coast domestic markets, the lack of rail transport links direct to sea ports linking to export markets and low oil prices rendering GTL uneconomic. With the advent of prevailing higher oil prices and the commissioning of a rail link direct to port facilities in Darwin, the area is now ready for serious exploration and development.
Several new play types are being developed by Central include:
- The Lower Larapinta Group Horn Valley Siltstone and parts of the Stairway Sandstone and Pacoota Sandstone unconventional gas and oil plays including basin centred gas plays in the Amadeus Basin. The Company's Southern Georgina Basin permit applications host a regionally extensive shale body, the Arthur Creek Shale, mature variously for oil and gas with an average thickness of 500m which compares well with the highly productive Baxter and Bakken Shales in the USA.
- Flanking "halo" plays over very wide synclinal features with reservoir targets terminating on the flanks of steep anticlinal features.
- The Pioneer Sandstone-Aralka Formation petroleum system, hitherto unrecognised and which is present in an area up to 100,000 square kilometres.
- Various untested potential oil plays drilled through with air and potentially overlooked.
- Very large anticlinal targets with Aralka-Pioneer and Heavitree petroleum system potential; largely ignored because of a previous blind focus on Ordovician petroleum systems.
- Very large Ordovician hanging wall fault terminated 3 way dip closures with attendant sub-thrust potential.
- Numerous salt structure and subsalt plays, particularly the subsalt Heavtree Formation which has flowed gas, condensate and helium on test to surface.
- A giant Devonian carbonate platform play type interpreted in the Pedirka Basin and considered to be analogous in general geology to many prolifically producing fields in central Asia.
- Numerous long channel sands descending into tempestites in the Southern Georgina Basin which are interpreted to have viable reservoir, source and seal characteristics.
It is clear that the acreage operated by Central in the Amadeus and Pedirka Basins, the Lander Trough and parts of the Georgina Basin represent probably some of the least explored but prospective onshore basins in the world. The Pedirka Basin is considered to be analogous with the Cooper Basin in Australia while the Amadeus Basin, Lander Trough and the Southern Georgina Basin are considered in part to be analogous with the producing basins in Oman, the Eastern Siberian Platform and the Sichuan Basin in China by virtue of the inherent geology and structures present.
Central aims to develop with its joint venture partners a significant production base in central Australia based on value adding to petroleum and Helium products prior to shipment to domestic or international destinations via the recently established rail link to Port Darwin as an alternative to piping products via Moomba.
Competent Persons Statement and General Disclaimer
The information in this website report which relates to mineral (coal) Exploration Results is based on information compiled by Mr Allen Maynard, who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geosciences ("AIG") and a Corporate Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy ("AusIMM") and an independent consultant to the Company. Mr Maynard is the principal of Al Maynard & Associates Pty Ltd and has over 30 years of exploration and mining experience in a variety of mineral deposit styles. Mr Maynard has sufficient experience which is relevant to the styles of mineralisation and types of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the "Australasian Code for reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves". Mr Maynard consents to inclusion in this website report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears. Potential volumetrics of gas may be categorised as undiscovered prospective recoverable gas in accordance with AAPG/SPE guidelines. Since some oil volumetrics are derived from gas estimates the corresponding categorisation applies.
Resource estimates included in this report by the Company, have not been reviewed by relevant joint venture partners. Therefore those resource estimates represent the views of the Company and/or its independent consultants and not necessarily held by such relevant joint venture partners. Exploration programme proposals in this report may not have been approved by relevant Joint Venture participants and accordingly constitute a proposal only unless otherwise annotated. Any exploration and or development plans referred to are subject to a range of contingencies including but not necessarily limited to access, environmental, regulatory and cultural clearances and approvals, weather, availability of crews and equipment, funding, the approval of relevant joint venture participants and other unforeseen factors .
Risks
This website report is partially based on the potential of the acreage concerned to host a viable Exploration Target for coal which, if successfully explored for, discovered and proven, could feasibly be exploited utilising technology (Underground Coal Gasification or "UCG") which has not yet been applied on a large commercial scale in the western world. Apparently commercial scale former Soviet Union, Russian and Ukrainian applications of UCG are difficult to assess and apply in the Australian context due to a lack of detailed information following the collapse of the Soviet Union as a viable entity. Two Australian companies have however, published results from pilot UCG programmes, Carbon Energy Limited and Linc Energy Limited and it is the publically available results from these two programmes, inter alia, that have been applied in this report as a basis for the computation of potential volumes of gas and/or liquid hydrocarbons that may be available from the application of UCG and GTL technology in the Company's permits and applications for permits in the Pedirka Basin. These published results include the conclusion that in an area suitable generally for UCG, approximately 50% of a given area of coal can be burned via UCG producing approximately 20,000 SCFG per tonne or 20 Gigajoules per tonne. Published results of Gas to Liquids (GTL) plant output have given industry at large a benchmark of 1 barrel of liquid petroleum product such as diesel, jet fuel or naphtha being produced from 10,000 SCFG or 10 Gigajoules of gas input.
Forward Financial Forecasts
Forward financial estimations or forecasts which may be presented in this website report or reasonably to be concluded by an examination of this report should not be regarded as a recommendation to hold, purchase or sell the Shares of the Company, any related entity or any other company involved in similar market segments. Actual exploration results and any financial forecasts may differ greatly from any proposed results. Forecasts by their very nature are subject to significant contingencies and uncertainties outside of the control of the Company and its consultants. The Company does not hold any reserves of oil, gas, condensate or helium at the time of this report.
