Dawson valley meridian seam gas

The Dawson Valley coal bed methane gas field, near Moura, 160 kilometres west of Gladstone, in the Bowen Basin Region of Queensland, is now named the Meridian SeamGas CSG gasfields and is operated by WestSide, as a joint venture with Mitsui E&P Australia. Westside having a 51 percent interest and Mitsui 49 percent.

The Dawson Valley Gas Field was Australia's First Commercial Field
The Dawson Valley gas field was the first commercial coal seam gas operation in Australia when it began producing coal bed methane gas in December 1996. At the time it was owned by Conoo. It was later acquired by Anglo American when Anglo American took over the nearby Moura coal mine which is now called the Dawson mine. A 47 kilometre gas pipeline connects the gas field to the main Wallumbilla-Gladstone pipeline. The WestSide- Mitsui joint venture took over the Dawson coal seam gas field in July 2010.

Dawson Valley now Known as the Meridian SeamGas Field
The Dawson Valley gas field's name was changed to the Meridian SeamGas gas field soon after the Westside purchase of the field was announced, along with the acquisition of the petroleum lease, gas rights in the mining leases, gas compression plant and the 47 kilometre gas pipeline that connects to the Queensland commercial gas network.

Meridian SeamGas Field has Room to Increase Production
The Meridian SeamGas gas field is producing around 25 terajoules of gas a day under contract. The company is progressing with well work over and production drilling programs with the aim of increasing gas production from the field as the pipeline has a capacity of handling up to 60 terajoules a day and the existing gas compression facility can take up to 30 terajoules a day. This excess capacity gives the joint venture partners an opportunity to increase production at a low cost. Westside is not undertaking any additional exploration drilling at the Meridian gas field in order to expand its reserve but is focusing more on engineering evaluation of the existing known resource, the rejuvenation of older wells and the bringing on of new wells that will expand its reserves during 2013.

It is believed there could be up to 20 seams within the Kaloola Formation and the Baralaba Coal measures that exist within the Meridian coal seam gas field that covers an area of around 206 square kilometres. The coal thicknesses vary throughout the field but the number of seams increase in a westerly direction where the coal thickness range from 15 to 30 metres. The coal seams outcrop at the Dawson mine site area and towards the western side of the Petroleum Lease go to a depth of between 1,200 and 1,500 metres. Gas content varies between the coal seams also but it is usually agreed that there is around 13 cubic metres of gas to a tonne of coal.

The Dawson Valley-Meridian SeamGas field has about 80 production wells but not all are producing. All the wells are connected to the compression facility through a high and low pipeline infrastructure that exists of a network of around 160 kilometres of pipelines. The joint venture partners will consider supplying new domestic gas contracts once current contracts expire in 2015/16 and the presence of Mitsui E&P as a partner in the operation gives the joint venture an opportunity to access international markets.