ASX-listed oil producer Triangle Energy Global has closed the book on a solid December quarter, tabling a host of milestones including its second oil delivery to a refinery in Thailand via an all-new shipping route, farming out two gas prospective permits to Talon Energy and raking in $6.6 million courtesy of oil sales associated with its Cliff Head joint venture, or “CHJV” partnership with Pilot Energy.
The company also banked $6.68 million over the period after selling off a segment of its stake in NSW-based oil and gas developer State Gas. Despite Triangle offloading 24 million shares in State Gas the producer still retains a strategic holding in the company amounting to more than 10 per cent of the company’s stock. Management says the transaction leaves it in the best position to ride an increasingly progressive energy sector.
Some of the cash may find its way into exploration drilling campaigns across its L7 production licence and EP 437 exploration permit in WA. The company recently farmed out a 25 per cent stake in the assets to New Zealand Oil & Gas with the deal representing a similar agreement to the one struck with Talon Energy last year. Triangle currently holds a 50 per cent stake in the operation and plans to probe the zones for gas through its newly formed joint venture.
Triangle states both L7 and EP 437 could offer bumper gas reserves of more than 617 billion cubic feet of gas and plans to unlock the site’s inventory via three exploration wells in 2024.
On the liquids front, the company mobilised 52,900 barrels of oil over the December period. The delivery forms part of Triangle and Pilot Energy’s CHJV collaboration - a union that entails the pair completing oil production duties within the Cliff Head oil field about 270km north of Perth and shipping the commodity to buyers in Asia.
Included in the affiliation is the Arrowsmith stabilisation plant, associated well infrastructure and a suite of federal and state pipeline licences. The tie-up is currently split 79/21 in favour of Triangle Energy however its dynamics are set to change after a recent revelation.
Late last year Triangle agreed to sell off half of its interests in the CHJV to Pilot for $1 million pending a government appraisal of the duo’s proposed carbon capture and sequestration, or “CSS” plan for the site. The duo tabled an average oil production output of about 650 barrels per day at Cliff Head over the December period, however, once the zone’s sub-surface reservoirs are depleted the partnership plan to store carbon inside them.
The Perth-based producer says the CSS development could increase the lifespan of the Cliff Head oil field by twenty years and deliver a sumptuous net present value of up to $210 million.
With saddlebags of cash on the horizon and a host of seemingly de-risked operations on the go Triangle could very well find itself in the mix of a rapidly evolving energy landscape this year. The company’s decision to divest a significant slice of its CHJV partnership appears linked to the massive decommissioning costs associated to the project and with a host of gas wells set to be drilled, it could soon bolster its finances through cleaner burning energy plays.
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By Matt Birney
