Australia-based Cooper Energy has discovered a natural gas field offshore Victoria, Australia, in the Otway Basin, the company said Sept. 6.

The Annie gas discovery marks the first made by an offshore well in the basin in 11 years, according to Cooper Energy.

Drilled to a total depth of 2,241 m, the Annie-1 well hit a 70-m gas column in the Waarre C Formation. The net pay thickness was 62 m, the company said in a news release.

The deeper Waarre A sandstone was encountered at 2,341 m measured depth rotary table, the company said, and was water wet.

“Annie-1 is the first offshore gas exploration well Cooper Energy has drilled in Australia and the first of an $80 million drill campaign by the joint venture this year to find new gas supply for southeast Australia,” Cooper Energy Managing Director David Maxwell said in the release. “We are very pleased with the success at Annie. It is very encouraging for future exploration in the offshore Otway Basin and for our strategy to build gas production around the hub of the existing Minerva Gas Plant.

Data collected show the find is consistent with adjacent analogue producing fields. Laboratory analysis to confirm gas composition will be conducted. The company also plans in the coming months to complete subsurface assessments and data analysis to refine  field size estimates and inform decisions regarding field development, Maxwell said.

Offshore