The Enterprise Gas Project is a natural gas development operated and fully owned by Beach Energy. Located in Victoria, Australia, the project supplies gas to southeastern Australia’s domestic market.
The project forms part of Beach Energy’s broader upstream gas strategy in the region and aligns with government objectives to address forecast gas supply shortfalls.
Beach Energy is responsible for all phases from exploration and development to production and processing.
Project Location
The Enterprise gas field, situated within the Victorian Otway Basin under exploration permit VIC/P42(V), is a collaborative venture between Beach Energy, holding a 60% stake, and OG Energy, the operator, with a 40% share. It marks the first Victorian production licence granted in ten years.
The project is distinguished by having one of the longest extended-reach wells in the Southern Hemisphere. Gas production commenced in June 2024 following the completion and commissioning of wellsite facilities.
Enterprise Gas Project Location and Discovery
Located approximately 5.5km from the Victorian coastline, the Enterprise reservoir lies within the Otway Basin. The field was discovered in November 2020 via the Enterprise 1 exploration well. This well was initiated from an onshore site, 3.5km from Port Campbell and 8km from the Otway gas plant, operated by Beach Energy’s subsidiary, Lattice Energy.
Using extended-reach drilling (ERD) technology, the well achieved a 3.2km step-out to the target, reaching a total measured depth of 4,974m. It encountered the primary reservoir in the Upper Waarre Formation 89m higher than expected, at 4,594m depth, intersecting a 146m gas column with 115m of net gas pay and no gas-water contact.
Project Infrastructure
The Enterprise gas project features an onshore well site that extracts raw gas from the reservoir. Located about 4km west of Port Campbell, the well site extends roughly 2.5km from the coastline, reaching depths between 2.1 and 2.7km below mean sea level. The site includes the wellhead, transportable facility buildings, and equipment for gas transport to the Otway gas plant for processing.
Remote monitoring and maintenance are conducted from the central control room at the Otway gas plant. An 11km pipeline (PL006998) connects the well site to the Otway gas plant, starting at the onshore site and merging into existing easements that accommodate Beach’s PL250 Otway pipeline. The processed gas is then sold to the Victorian gas market.
Construction of the wellsite facilities began in late 2022, followed by pipeline construction in January 2023, with reinstatement activities completed in April 2024.
Reserves
As of February 2021, the Enterprise gas field’s proven and probable (2P) reserves are estimated at 34 million barrels of oil equivalent (mboe). These reserves include 161 petajoules (PJ) of sales gas, 352km of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and four million barrels of condensate, with an initial gas-condensate yield of approximately 25 barrels per million standard cubic feet (bbl/mscf).
Otway Gas Plant
Operational since September 2007, the Otway gas plant is located near Port Campbell in south-west Victoria, Australia. It processes natural gas, condensate, and LPG from the offshore Otway basin fields.
The plant refines raw gas by separating hydrocarbon fluids into gas and liquid streams, removing impurities such as CO2, water, and hydrogen sulphide.
Liquid treatment units at the plant segregate hydrocarbon liquids into stabilised condensate products like propane and butane. The facility also includes on-site storage and tanker loading facilities for these products.
Offtake agreements
In January 2024, Beach Energy signed a gas sales agreement with Origin Energy, committing to supply gas from the Enterprise field to Origin until the close of 2026. Origin Energy operates as an electricity generator and retailer of both electricity and natural gas in Australia.
