Beach Energy plans to drill at its Artisan-1 well about 32 km offshore Victoria, Australia, in the Otway basin, before the end of 2021. The well, located on Block Vic/P43, was to be spudded in 1H 2020 but was delayed due to COVID-19.
The timeframe for drilling was confirmed by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority, which also said Beach is keeping open the option to suspend the well and develop it, pending reservoir analysis.
Anchors, mooring chains, and surface buoys have already been laid for the well, which is in a water depth of approximately 71 m. The well is expected to take approximately 35–55 days to drill, depending on the final work program and potential operational delays. Diamond Offshore’s semisubmersible Ocean Onyx was contracted for the drilling program.
Artisan is the first of Beach’s planned multiwell campaigns, which also include development wells at the Geographe and Thylacine fields.