Market Herald 7/17/23...PriceSensitive
From next year: Tamboran Resources (ASX:TBN) to produce gas in NT
ASX News
Sonia Madigan
sonia.madigan@themarketherald.com.au
17 July 2023 08:45 (AEST)
Tamboran Resources (TBN) is focused on delivering production of gas next year from its Beetaloo Basin Gas Field in the Northern Territory.
The scale of Tamboran’s gas resource is such that it will be supplying not only the Northern Territory and Australia’s eastern states, but also exporting LNG internationally out of Darwin.
The company’s MD and CEO Joel Riddle said it had been estimated the entire Beetaloo Basin had about 500 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of prospective gas resources, which could be enough to supply Australia’s East Coast domestic market for 500 years.
The size and quality of the gas in the Beetaloo Basin has been compared to the Marcellus shale gas reservoir in the United States, one of the largest and most prolific shale gas plays in the world.
“Tamboran has approximately 150 TCF of net 2U prospective gas resources,” Mr Riddle said.
“The potential here is to supply Australia’s undersupplied eastern states and to export LNG internationally out of Darwin, via the Company’s recently announced 6.6 MTPA Northern Territory LNG development.”
Tamboran Resources secured two memorandums of understanding for offtake with BP (Singapore) and Shell (Eastern Trading) last month. Each will buy up to 2.2 million tonnes of LNG a year for two decades, once the company commences LNG production. It also has a Gas Sales Agreement for domestic gas sales with Origin Energy.
In a significant milestone towards developing its LNG capabilities, Tamboran recently secured a strategic site at Middle Arm Sustainability Development Precinct in Darwin. Tamboran has NT Government-granted exclusivity over 170 hectares of land within the site, which has potential to house a 6.6 million tonne per annum LNG project.
The enormous scale of the low reservoir CO2 natural gas Basin means that there’s potential to deliver large and scalable volumes – over the long term – to international markets.
“Our NTLNG development has potential to supply gas to the Asia Pacific region to support a transition from coal-fired power to gas and renewables,” Mr Riddle said.
“Importantly, gas will not only support energy transition through the replacement of coal, it will also play a key role in global food production, via manufacturing of urea and other fertilizers, as well as other industrial processes including glass and plastics used in future electric vehicles.
“We look forward to progressing our agreements with BP and Shell, which are two of the world’s largest LNG portfolio trading and energy companies and are providing important and credible counterparties for Tamboran as we progress financing discussions.
“We have also made a commitment to deliver early gas from the Beetaloo Basin to the domestic NT market. It’ll be the first step towards fulfilling our promise to provide remote communities – currently reliant on diesel for fuel and electricity generation – with alternative and affordable cleaner fuel.”
Tamboran’s selected APA Group (ASX:APA) as its preferred gas transmission pipeline partner. APA will build three pipelines to connect Tamboran’s Beetaloo Basin gas field to Darwin as well as to the East Coast domestic gas market. This work will commence over the next twelve months, with APA Group funding $10 million to progress approvals and studies.
Share Purchase Plan
Tamboran Resources is undertaking a $5 million SPP which closes later this month (July 27) to provide shareholders the opportunity to increase their holdings at the same 18-cent price as investors in the recently completed $53.2 million Placement. As part of that raise, Texan billionaire and third generation oil and gas investor, Bryan Sheffield, upped his stake by another $14.7 million to more than 15 per cent of Tamboran Resources.
“Our largest shareholder, shale entrepreneur Bryan Sheffield is well known in the US, having founded his own oil and gas company, Parsley Energy, which sold to Pioneer Natural Resources for more than US$8 billion,” Mr Riddle said.
“There are also a few additional long-term view, US-based, energy specialist funds that took part and they’re all the right kind of shareholders that Tamboran really needs – they represent a lot of smart money – these investors understand global gas markets.
“This really is a vote of confidence in the Beetaloo Basin’s resource and Tamboran’s potential.”
The funds will be used for further drilling at Tamboran’s Shenandoah South and Amungee well sites within the Beetaloo Basin.
“We are fully focused on delivering commercial flow rates from the Shenandoah South and Amungee areas,” Mr Riddle said.
“De-risking of these two areas provides us with optionality for initial production via mini-LNG as early as 2024, and the proposed pilot development will target first production by the end of 2025.”
Evaluation of the flow testing at the Tanumbirini 2H and 3H wells (Santos-operated EP161), in which Tamboran holds a 25 per cent interest, was undertaken over the first half of 2023. Independent modelling suggests a 20-year recovery of about 16.8 billion cubic feet (BCF) and 18.5 BCF respectively per well.