Mineral Resources (MinRes) has announced another significant natural gas discovery within the onshore Perth Basin.
The company said that drilling began in April at North Erregulla Deep-1, which is located in Western Australia’s mid-west.
The drilling program took place last week and had successful exploration to a depth of more than 4000 metres. It also found a substantial gas reservoir after drilling only three wells, which is the second significant gas discovery in two years, following the Lockyer Deep-1 discovery in 2021.
An oil zone was also identified in the secondary objective Dongara Sandstone at a depth of about 3000 metres.
MinRes said that future appraisal wells will further define the resource potential, with a well test to be completed in the next month to evaluate gas flow rates and composition.
MinRes managing director Chris Ellison was pleased to see the success at North Erregulla Deep-1, calling it another stride forward in the company’s exploration of the Perth Basin.
“While further work is needed to confirm its scale, North Erregulla shows all the signs of making a huge contribution to our energy business, which will help us get into production as quickly as possible,” Ellison said.
“Production at North Erregulla and Lockyer will help transition our mining operations to low-cost natural gas and renewables, driving our decarbonisation strategy and further diversifying our business.”
Additionally, Ellison confirmed the appointment of Darren Hardy as MinRes energy chief.
“His immediate focus is the successful completion of the Perth Basin drilling campaign and the development of these discoveries into production,” Ellison said.
Hardy was previously the project director of the Onslow Iron project, which is currently under investigation due to the fatality which occurred on June 12.
