The new facility at Regency Park will provide management, engineering and operations support for multiple Halliburton departments across Australasia, as well as provide maintenance support for SA-based equipment via a mechanical workshop installed onsite.

The facility also has warehousing to supply products, materials and parts to Halliburton’s operations and will provide logistics for the Cooper Basin and interstate sites, multiple procurement functions, a training facility and quality assurance functions.

“Halliburton’s investment in our new facility enables us to provide a wide range of services and support to our operations in Australia and specifically serve our customers working in the Cooper Basin,” Halliburton Australasia vice president Michael Segura said.

“We see the great potential of the region.”

SA Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis, who opened the facility yesterday with Premier Jay Weatherill, said various sources estimate there to be between 100-300Tcf of recoverable gas in the state, representing “centuries of gas” which could be unleashed as technological advances drive down costs.

Cost is a key word for the Australian unconventional E&P sector, driving the likes of Christian Lange to set up Condor Energy in Perth with clients in the Cooper Basin.

Halliburton has been active in SA for 50 years and Lange previously called for government to support the notion of bigger fish helping smaller fish for the sake of the industry.

It remains to be seen whether the base set to service Australasia will benefit Western Australia’s fledgling unconventional exploration scene, which has been hindered by a lack of drill rigs that can go the distance and handle the often complex geology and frac spreads required to get the industry cranking.

To date, not enough targets have been lined up to justify companies such as Halliburton, Schlumberger or Baker Hughes sending crews over.

Halliburton serves the upstream industry throughout the lifecycle of the reservoir, from locating hydrocarbons and managing geological data, to drilling and formation evaluation, well construction and completion and optimising production through the life of the field.

Weatherill said Halliburton’s operations in Australia have more than doubled in the last three years, growing from an employment base of 178 in October 2011 to 378 in October this year.

“This new facility is an important milestone for one of the world’s largest and most-established providers of products and services to the energy industry,” he said.