Empire: Empire Oil & Gas looks to restart gas production in Perth Basin well

Empire Oil & Gas (ASX:EGO) is in the process of bringing its Red Gully-1 well in the Perth basin back into production, following the completion of the static pressure survey in the 2017 reserves review. As per the review, the gas and condensate reserves within the Red Gully production area were estimated to be 6.56 petajoules and 146.5 thousand stock tank barrels respectively. However, the liquid was held up in the production tubing when the well was re-opened to flow after the pressure survey, preventing the well from flowing at the expected rate. The condensate, gas and water have been produced from the well over a period of 10 days, but at insufficient rates to restore normal flow conditions, despite increasing pressure and flow rates. Empire is now planning a nitrogen gas lift to remove the liquid in the production tubing as the observed trends indicated that the well was unlikely to clean-up without additional assistance. Hence the well has been shut-in to conserve gas and enable plant maintenance prior to commencing the nitrogen gas lift operation, which is expected to be completed by the end of the month. The Red Gully well is an important asset for Empire, and the company is aiming to bring it back online quickly and economically. The company's cash balance at the end of the June quarter was circa $2 million.