Beetaloo fires up seismic as NT pilot gas production nears

With the Northern Territory’s wet season now in the rear-view mirror, Beetaloo Energy is kicking its operations into high gear, launching a significant seismic survey in its western permits this month while simultaneously restarting flow tests at its impressive Carpentaria-5H well.

The upcoming 230-kilometre 2D seismic survey will be acquired by Velseis Integrated Seismic Technologies, with local company Wildman River Stock Contractors clearing access after land agreements were executed with pastoralists.

Although the survey is designed to target the same reservoir units as its Carpentaria project, it will test an area where management believes the key “B Shale” is significantly thicker, potentially building a multi-decade, LNG-scale drilling inventory.

At the same time, Beetaloo is preparing to kick off an extended production test of its Carpentaria-5H well in mid-June. The well previously delivered a peak gas flow rate of 11.2 terajoules per day and a solid 30-day average of 7.1 terajoules per day during clean-up testing late last year.

The company says the restart follows the successful installation of expanded water-handling infrastructure to manage water production during the test.

At the Carpentaria pilot project, activity is ramping up, with 40 personnel now on site. Civil works are now complete, and installation of the gas plant is ongoing following the first compressor being lifted into place. The final components, including the second compressor unit and intercooler, are now in transit from Roma, Queensland.

Gas gathering pipelines are also being laid to connect its C-2H, C-3H and C-5H wells to the plant, with first gas sales targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026.

Beetaloo Energy Australia managing director Alex Underwood said: “Following the end of the wet season, activity across the Beetaloo Basin has ramped up significantly as we continue progressing towards pilot production from our Carpentaria Pilot Project.”

Underpinning the operational push, the company has also strengthened its on-the-ground presence, welcoming three new key Darwin-based employees. Damian Woods has joined as operations superintendent for the Carpentaria project, while Andrew Lewis and Audrey Santiaguel have been appointed to the environmental and compliance team.

Beetaloo holds a 100 per cent interest across a massive 28.9 million acres of exploration ground in the Northern Territory’s McArthur and Beetaloo sub-basins. The ground hosts a significant 2C contingent resource of more than 1.6 trillion cubic feet of gas and a whopping 2U prospective resource of mo