Mereenie

Location

Amadeus Basin, onshore central Australia, approximately 300 kilometres west of Alice Springs.

Participants

Discovered

Paleozoic oil was discovered in 1963 by the West Mereenie 1 exploration well.
Gas was discovered in 1965 by the Palm Valley 1 exploration well.

First Production

Oil production commenced in 1984.
Gas production commenced in 1987.

Cost to Develop

Total investment to date by the Mereenie joint venture is approximately A$280 million.

Facility Details

There are two main fields from which oil and gas are produced: West Mereenie and East Mereenie.

The fields produce from approximately 57 wells through approximately 80 kilometres of pipelines and flowlines via the Eastern Satellite Station (ESS) and the Central Treatment Plant (CTP).

Associated gas from oil produced at the ESS is compressed and reinjected into the main oil reservoir to maintain reservoir pressure while gas from the CTP is compressed and sent via a 1,628 kilometre pipeline to Darwin.

Oil and condensate is transported from the CTP via a 270 kilometre pipeline to the Brewer Estate facility at Alice Springs where it is stored and loaded onto trucks for shipment to Port Bonython and sale to customers.

The central processing plant comprises:

• Oil processing: crude/water separation, condensate stabilisation, crude/condensate storage and crude loading facilities.
• Gas processing: field compression, inlet slugcatchers, gas dehydration and separation, a natural gas liquids recovery plant, associated gas compression for reinjection and pipeline compression.

Water is provided by bores and a membrane treatment plant and electricity is provided by onsite generation. The plant is serviced by an airstrip.

The nearby Palm Valley gas field is about 150 kilometres east of Mereenie and sends sales gas from 11 gas wells to Alice Springs via a 134 kilometre pipeline. Palm Valley also supplies gas to Darwin via the same pipeline as Mereenie. Palm Valley incorporates field boost compression.