Buru Energy Limited, an Australian-based oil and gas exploration and production company, reported Friday that oil production from the Ungani Field in the Canning Basin, Western Australia has recommenced with the first load out of oil from the field to the storage facility at the Port of Wyndham.

Ungani production

Following the successful workover of Ungani 2, the well has been brought back onto production and is flowing strongly. On a multi rate test the well produced up to 1,795 barrels of oil per day (bopd) on a 30/64 inch (12 millimeter) choke at a flowing tubing head pressure of 131 pounds per square inch (psi). The well is also producing back small amounts (<4 percent by volume) of the completion fluid used during the recent workover operations. Although these results are preliminary, and the water cut can be expected to increase over time, they compare very favorably with pre-workover production rates of ~500 bopd with 35 percent water cut on similar choke settings.

Cumulative oil production from the Ungani 2 well since the workover is currently in excess of 2,400 barrels. The well has now been shut in for a pressure buildup, and the Ungani 1 well will be produced on cleanup flow over the next week.

Oil Production and ShipmentA further milestone has been achieved with the commissioning of the crude export system, with the first 700 barrel tanker load of crude oil leaving the Ungani facility Dec. 11 and being unloaded into the storage tanks at the Wyndham Port facility Dec. 12. As production is ramped up from both wells, additional trucking capacity will be brought on line with the objective of increasing production to the planned rate for this phase of the project of 1,500 bopd.

Rig Mobilization

The Crusader 405 rig move is expected to commence this weekend from the Whicher Range location in the southwest of Western Australia following the completion of operations at that location for another operator. The rig move is expected to take approximately three weeks with the spud of the Ungani 3 well planned for shortly after Christmas. Pre-stocking of the location to ensure uninterrupted wet season operations has been largely completed.