WestSide chief executive Dr Julie Beeby said the new drilling program comprised three new dual-lateral well sets and one up-dip blind lateral well – building on the success of the previous campaign.

“The results achieved to date from wells already drilled have given the joint venture confidence to proceed with this next phase as we look to lift production to satisfy existing sales contracts,” Dr Beeby said.

Of the seven dual-lateral wells drilled previously, two have achieved production rates exceeding one million standard cubic feet a day (scf/d) and another three have achieved pre-peak flow rates of more than 675,000 scf/d.

Two rigs have been deployed to drill the new wells, including WestSide’s Schramm TXD rig, which will drill the lateral in-seam wells and another provided by EastCore Drilling Services to drill some of the vertical sections.

The Meridian SeamGas joint venture achieved average daily gas sales during June of 13.5 TJ/d with new wells now generating approximately 35% of gross daily production.

WestSide, which has a 51% operating interest in Meridian SeamGas, is Australia’s leading ASX-listed junior coal seam gas company in terms of production.