Preliminary activities would start from January 2024 with seabed assessments to determine suitable drilling and infrastructure locations.

Subject to internal and external approvals, plug and abandonment (P&A) of suspended wells and drilling of new wells would commence from November 2024.

Each well would take between 25 to 50 days to drill depending on whether the well is viable and will be developed for production. Each P&A well would take approximately 15 days. The entire drilling program may take up to three years, depending on number of wells.

The final scope of activities, including number of wells, and the timing of activities will be subject to final investment decision, regulatory approvals, and the availability of the drilling rig after it completes programs of works for other companies. Beach will provide a detailed activity schedule prior to commencement.

The OGV Project includes both the Otway and Bass offshore basins. In the Otway Basin two wells would be P&A and up to six wells would be drilled.

In the Bass Basin three wells would be P&A and up to five wells would be drilled. All wells would be within existing permits and within the ‘seabed assessment areas’ shown in the maps above.

The exact number of wells and their locations and the infrastructure to tie back to the existing pipelines are to be determined and will be communicated in further updates.

Depending on the size and geological structure of hydrocarbon reservoirs, the sequence of drilling often involves:

• an exploration well into a prospective hydrocarbon reservoir identified in a previous seismic survey.
• an appraisal well to establish the size of the reservoir.
• then completing a well to become a production well that would be tied back to a platform and / or pipeline.

Beach’s program of work would be optimised in well design and equipment so that exploration and appraisal wells would be drilled to the same specifications as a production well. By taking this approach, if the wells are assessed as viable for production, at the end of drilling they would be completed ready for connection. If they are assessed as unviable, they would immediately undergo the formal P&A process.

This approach will reduce the number of drilling activities and the time taken to explore, appraise and convert a well through to production, thereby also reducing environmental impacts from the activities.

When conducting any offshore activity, there is an extremely unlikely risk of release of hydrocarbon from a well during drilling (which is primarily gas) or from marine vessel fuel in the event of an accident.

Beach standard operating procedures include emergency response plans which are included in Environment Plans. Preparing emergency response plans involves modelling of all possible hydrocarbon releases in the local area using a worst-case scenario, assuming no control measures are in place. The modelling calculates the transport, spreading, entrainment and evaporation over time, using data on the prevailing metocean conditions (wind, wave, and climate), the volume released, and the physical and chemical properties of the hydrocarbons.

The modelling determines the full extent of the “Environment that may be affected” known as the EMBA. Environment plans must describe the EMBA and include an assessment of the likelihood and consequences of any hydrocarbon release which must be reduced to ALARP through a range of control measures and include detailed response plans.

An emergency response plan describes the arrangements that must be in place for responding to and monitoring any release of hydrocarbon and include:

• 24/7 on-call team for rapid response clean-up actions including mobilisation of personnel and equipment.
• 24/7 on-call team for modelling and monitoring of a hydrocarbon release to inform response activities, and monitoring of effectiveness of response activities.
• Control measures necessary for ensuring rapid response and maintenance of capabilities (personnel and equipment).

These arrangements are based on the worse case event associated with the proposed activities to ensure that Beach has the appropriate level of response arrangements and capability. Beach maintains a current contract with Australian Marine Oil Spill Centre (AMOSC) based in Geelong for access to spill response resources and personnel. In Victoria, the Department of Transport is the control agency for marine pollution emergencies.

For more information on hydrocarbon release modelling and why it is required for the preparation of environment plans, click here to watch a video on the NOPSEMA website.

The wells were drilled by previous lease titleholders, from 1985 through to the most recent well being drilled by Origin Energy in 2004. Beach and its joint venture partners acquired the retention leases and production licence, the wells and associated production assets from Origin Energy in 2018.

Although Beach is continuing development of natural gas in the Otway and Bass Basins, the suspended exploration wells are not suitable as future production wells. In addition, new exploration wells will be P&A shortly after drilling should results show limited prospectivity.

Cement plugs were installed to suspend and seal the wells. Since then, the wells have undergone routine monitoring and have met inspection criteria.

Although unlikely given the well construction method, if a leak was found during an inspection, the hydrocarbon volume and composition would be assessed in order to determine the required maintenance response or ‘plug and abandonment’ action.

No leaks have been observed from all suspended wells inspections to date.

The OGV Project will require Environment Plans to be accepted by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) before commencement of activities.

Environment Plans must include a description of the existing environment and the proposed activities, an evaluation of the impacts and risks, environmental performance outcomes and controls, implementation strategy, and reporting requirements.

Consultation and feedback with anyone whose functions, interests or activities may be affected by the project activities is an important part of developing Environment Plans.

View NOPSEMA's 'Consultation in the course of preparing an environment plan.'

Consultation and feedback are an important part of developing Environment Plans. Beach seeks to consult with anyone whose functions, interests or activities may be affected by the activities to be carried out under the Environment Plan.

As a local operator in Victoria, Beach has conducted transparent and respectful consultations with Commercial Fishers, First Nations groups, local communities, and other people whose functions, interests or activities may be affected by the project for many years.

Please contact us if you would like further information or to consult with us about how this project may impact your functions, interests or activities. Beach will consider all feedback, including any concerns or objections and will explore measures to reduce any impacts and risks.

People may request that the information they provide not be published in the Environment Plan.

If there is someone you believe may be affected by the proposed activities, please ask them to contact us.