Completion of the acquisition has resulted in Cooper Energy booking 2C contingent resources of 106 PJ of sales gas.
The VIC/RL3 joint venture, comprising Cooper Energy and Santos, will now work to complete FEED for a final investment decision (FID) in the September quarter of 2016.
Cooper Energy Managing Director David Maxwell said that the commencement of FEED was a significant milestone for the project and the company.
“Together with Santos we are now working on completing the detailed analysis, design and costing necessary for the decision on developing the Sole gas field,” Mr Maxwell said.
“The current outlook is very encouraging, with gas prices and field development costs trending favourably for economic development of Sole.
“We believe that Sole, as a conventional gas field, nearby existing infrastructure, is a competitive and attractive source of gas for eastern Australia.”
Gas market offtake contracts and finance for project construction will be developed in parallel with FEED.
The Sole gas field is expected to provide gas supply of approximately 25 PJ/a over eight years after commissioning in late 2018.
The field is located 65 km from the Orbost Gas Plant, onshore Victoria and 35 km from Cooper Energy’s Basker-Manta-Gummy (BMG) gas and liquids resource.
The Sole Gas Project is expected to comprise a single vertical subsea well and pipeline to the Orbost Gas Plant which is connected to Jemena’s 797 km, 450 mm Eastern Gas Pipeline, while the Orbost Gas Plant is currently processing gas from the Longtom gas field.