Triangle locks in oil rig for Becos-1 Perth Basin wildcat

With its environmental plans recently given the tick of approval, Triangle Energy Global has now locked in the services of Silver City Drilling’s Rig 24 for a March spud of its Becos-1 onshore wildcat well in West Australia’s Perth Basin's in the hunt for oil and gas.

Targeting a resource of between 1 million and 21 million barrels (MMbbl), the well holds a best estimate of 5 MMbbl and a 20 per cent success rate.

The Becos-1 well is expected to reach its main reservoir targets, the Arranoo and Bookara sandstones, at a depth of between 700-800m. There is also a chance the drill bit could hit an additional reservoir in the deeper Kingia sandstone, if present, on its way to a target depth of 1140m.

The equipment, which is currently in the Canning Basin, will shortly move across to the Perth Basin to do maintenance and repair work on a series of wells for other customers. As the work will be undertaken on a 12-hour shift basis, rather than a 24-hour operation, including a pause for the Christmas break, the rig will not become available for Becos-1 drilling before late March.

Triangle Energy Global managing director Conrad Todd said: “The signature of the rig contract marks significant progress towards the drilling of Becos-1 in March. Triangle considers Becos a compelling target both in terms of the potential resource and the chance of success. Whilst the delivery of the rig is later than we would have liked, Triangle understands the reasons for the timing and is pleased to have a firm contract for the rig.”

In 2023 Triangle agreed to sell its share of the Cliff Head offshore operation to Pilot Energy in a series of payments worth a combined $18 million. Having produced 14.8 million barrels of crude oil since first discovery in 2006, production at the oilfield has since wound back to just 700 barrels a day.

The value of the asset to Pilot however, does not come from the remaining hydrocarbons but from an ambitious plan - which has now received federal government approval - to repurpose the drained reservoir into a carbon capture scheme (CCS).

Consequently, following government approval of the CCS, Triangle’s 50 per cent stake in the Becos-1 joint venture has already been fully funded, courtesy of the first $2.4 million payment made by Pilot. The company’s two partners in the JV, Strike Energy and Echelon, hold a 25 per cent stake each.

Triangle has also recently received some good news in its quest to open up a second exploration front in the UK’s North Sea after the newly installed Labour government confirmed a softer approach towards the tax treatment imposed on oil and gas development in the UK than had been expected. In a sudden about-face, the government said it will now retain 100 per cent capital allowances on all new developments, presenting an unexpected boost for the up-and-coming developer.

With a firm timeline set in stone for the start of drilling at Becos-1, the cash starting to flow from the sale of Cliff Head and - as unlikely as it seemed a month ago - the possibility of now advancing its North Sea play, Triangle looks and feels like an oil company with an ambitious and realistic plan for growth. The next few months should certainly be interesting to watch.

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