Cooking with gas: Senex unveils ‘transformational’ growth
Brisbane-based Senex Energy will triple its gas production and generate about $100 million in earnings in 2022 as it ramps up its Surat Basin projects.
The company has announced significant project development savings and earlier-than-forecast production.
Based on outperformance of wells to date, Senex said it had completed its Roma North drilling campaign, with only 35 wells of the originally planned 50 wells required to reach initial plateau production.
It is also establishing a free cashflow breakeven Brent oil price of less than US$30 a barrel with production forecast to triple from last year’s level to 3.6 million barrels-of-oil-equivalent by 2022 without growing capital expenditure.
Free cash flow will be between $70 and $90 million from 2022 and earnings will be between $100 million and $110 million a year.
Its Roma North project has reached the plant’s initial capacity milestone of 16 terajoules a day (about 6 petajoules a year) more than 12 months ahead of schedule.
At the Atlas field, near Wandoan, Senex said the number of wells required had fallen by 10 to 50.
It will now build its own water treatment plant at the site at a cost of $15 million, which it said would significantly reduce costs.
Managing director Ian Davies said that given the outperformance at Roma North Senex had started front end engineering and design on an expansion of the gas processing facility to 24 terajoules a day.
He said the expansion project would be low-risk with fast cash returns given the modular processing facility design as well as more than 20 years of reserves coverage and ready land access and other approvals.
“The high-quality, low-cost nature of our Surat and Cooper basin assets, together with our best-in-class execution capability has enabled Senex to deliver a transformation in our business,’’ Davies said,
Senex shares opened 7 per cent stronger this morning at 22c.