The Thylacine West wells are located in the Otway Basin, approximately 70km offshore from Port Campbell, Victoria, in water depths of around 100m.

The wells connect to the Thylacine subsea network through a 4.2km, 8” flowline, supplying natural gas essential to the East Coast market in Australia.

Beach Energy has also outlined plans for the next phase of offshore drilling in Victoria, aiming to further bolster natural gas supplies to the East Coast market. Currently, the company is consulting on two new environment plans, one for drilling and another for well completions and interventions, as it prepares for this upcoming phase.

Beach Energy managing director and CEO Brett Woods said: “Natural Gas from these two wells will be delivered entirely to the domestic market and provide the East Coast with a much-needed, secure and stable supply of energy for homes, businesses, manufacturing and industry.

“With the market regulator AEMO continuing to forecast natural gas supply shortfalls on the East Coast in the near-term, first gas from Thylacine West brings critical natural gas to market which supports Beach’s vision to become Australia’s leading domestic energy company.”

Situated near Port Campbell in south-west Victoria, the Otway Gas Plant began operations in 2006, processing natural gas piped from the Geographe and Thylacine offshore production wells. In August 2016, the plant began processing gas from additional sources, including the Halladale, Black Watch, and Speculant gas fields.

Natural gas from the Halladale 1 and Speculant 1 and 2 production wells flows through 33km of buried pipeline to the Otway Gas Plant for processing. The Black Watch 1 well, completed in April 2020, was integrated into the plant the same year.

Once processed, the natural gas is sold to retailers who distribute it for both domestic and commercial consumption across the East Coast gas market.