PPL 212 - Queensland Cooper Basin

Production continues from the Kiana oilfield, with a pump installed.

In January 2006 the Kiana Joint Venture, comprising Beach (Operator with 40% interest), Drillsearch (30%), and Magellan (30%) were granted a production licence, PPL 212, to produce oil from the Kiana-1 discovery. This followed initial commencement of production from Kiana-1 in November 2005 during a production test. As a result of this production testing a stabilized oil flow rate of 400 barrels per day was recorded. This flow rate continued into early 2006 by which time some 25,000 barrels of oil had been produced. As flow pressure reduced, a second oil zone was perforated and production co-mingled to give a daily free-flow production of around 800 barrels of oil. Production to the end of March 2006 totalled over 60,000 barrels. Flow rates were choked back because of tanker limitations in transporting the oil to Moomba. To compensate for the gradual decline in pressures Beach put production onto pump to increase daily production.

The Kiana Joint Venture installed surface facilities including two 880 barrel capacity oil storage tanks, a gas-liquid separator, flow lines and up-take connections for loading oil into the road tankers transporting the oil to Moomba. The crude is sold to the SA Cooper Basin Producers who take delivery at Moomba, some 50 km to the east. The Joint Venture entered a crude oil sales agreement with SACBP paying according to current market value, based on Tapis light crude pricing. First revenue was received by Drillsearch in January 2006.