Western Gas has now secured all necessary government approvals required
to drill the Sasanof-1 exploration well on the North West Shelf.
This significant milestone follows formal advice from the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental
Management Authority (NOPSEMA) that Western Gas’ proposed Well Operations Management Plan (WOMP)
had met government requirements considering health, safety and well integrity aspects.
The WOMP is a regulator-approved document which describes the procedures and processes by which Western
Gas will safely construct the well, conduct data acquisition and maintain the integrity of the well during these
activities. The well is planned to be permanently plugged and abandoned on completion of drilling and data
acquisition activities.
Acceptance of the WOMP follows closely the acceptance by NOPSEMA in December 2021 of the Environment
Plan and the Safety Case Revision for use of the Valaris MS-1 semi-submersible drilling rig to drill the Sasanof-1
well.
These acceptances have been secured by the Western Gas team, in conjunction with primary contractors, AGR,
Valaris and XODUS Group, reflecting the capability of the team to safely deliver the Sasanof-1 well.
The drilling campaign is planned to start in Q2 2022 using the Valaris MS-1 rig, targeting the multi-tcf, high
liquids, low CO2 Sasanof resource.
COMMENT – WESTERN GAS
“It is a great reflection of our highly capable, focussed team and supporting project partners that we have been
able to secure all approvals in a timely manner and enable the drilling of this high impact well.
“All efforts are now focused on finalising remaining contracts, preparing for operations and delivering a safe and
successful exploration effort for the Western Gas team and our well campaign partners Global Oil and Gas
Limited (ASX:GLV) and Prominence Energy (ASX:PRM).”
ABOUT THE SASANOF PROSPECT
The Sasanof Prospect covers an area of up to 400 km2 and is on trend and updip of Western Gas’ liquids rich,
low C02 Mentorc Field.
ERCE estimates the Sasanof Prospect to contain a 2U Prospective Resource of 7.2 Tcf gas and 176 Million bbls
condensate (P501), with a high case 3U Prospective Resource estimate of 17.8 Tcf gas and 449 Million bbls
condensate (P101).
Sasanof is a large, seismic amplitude supported, structural-stratigraphic trap in the high-quality reservoir
sands at the top of the Cretaceous top Lower Barrow Group formation on the Barrow Delta within the
Exmouth Plateau.
Sasanof-1 will be Western Gas’ first well drilled from its extensive exploration portfolio surrounding the existing
Equus Gas Project that contains a discovered resource of 2 Tcf and 42 MMbbl (2C Gaffney Cline2). The Equus Gas
Project has a historic exploration drilling success rate of 88%, with 15 discoveries from 17 wells.
