Vintage Energy Ltd reported on 3 August 2018 that it had signed a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Beach Energy Ltd, to acquire interest in exploration permit EP 126, located in the Bonaparte Basin.Â  Vintage Energy will be acquiring 100% interest and operatorship in the permit. The deal remains subject to a number of relevant authority approvals, which were reported to remain pending as of late November 2018.  The companies entered a heads of agreement for the deal in June 2018.Â  Under the terms of the SPA Vintage Energy will take on all permit obligations, including the requirement to abandon the Cullen 1 well, which was drilled in the permit.  The permit was awarded to Territory Oil and Gas Pty Ltd in June 2011.Â  Beach first acquired interest in October 2011, taking 90% interest. After a number of additional interest changes, Beach acquired full interest in the permit in July 2015.  During the permitâs validity the Cullen 1 well was drilled, in 2014. It was targeting both conventional and unconventional gas potential.Â  Target units included the shale and tight sands of the Carboniferous Milligans Formation, Carboniferous Bonaparte Formation and Upper Devonian Langfield Group.Â  Beach reported that 1,000 m of limestone and interbedded shales had been encountered, with elevated gas readings and natural fractures observed.Â  In addition, 1,600 m of dark marine shale was encountered. The well was suspended pending testing.  Beach had been offering a farm-in opportunity in the permit. Beach was offering a negotiable farm-in opportunity, with the potential farminee to participate in part of the work programme associated with the evaluation of the Cullen 1 well.Â  A staged farm-in opportunity was available, with a partner to initially carry Beach through an extended production test of the Cullen 1 carbonate play for permit entry.Â  Future testing would then be undertaken on the shale gas interval of the well.  EP 126, which covers an area of 6,740 sq km, was awarded on 15 June 2011. Once the deal is complete, Vintage Energy Pty Ltd will hold 100% interest and operatorship of the permit.
Vintage Energy had signed a SPA with Beach Energy, to acquire interest in exploration permit EP 126. 