Georgina Energy (LSE:GEX) said on Wednesday that mobilisation of the Ensign Rig 970 to its Hussar prospect is now expected to take eight to ten weeks from formal notification, with ongoing road closures to heavy vehicles and variable weather continuing to delay the rig's arrival.
The London-listed small-cap explorer targets helium, hydrogen and natural gas at Hussar, within Exploration Permit 513 in the Officer Basin, Western Australia, held through its wholly owned subsidiary Westmarket O&G.
The company has completed all civil engineering and site works needed to facilitate drilling, and contractors have demobilised from site with their equipment.
Mobilisation fees will carry additional costs split between Ensign and Westmarket, covering a revised route survey from August and September that requires extra transport equipment and an extended route, plus higher fuel prices.
The delay pushes back a spud date that had been targeted for September.
Hussar is planned to drill to a total depth of approximately 3,200 metres, targeting subsalt reservoirs including the Townsend Formation and fractured Neoproterozoic basement, with secondary hydrocarbon gas potential in the overlying Kanpa and Hussar formations.
An independent geological report dated 1 February, prepared by competent person Maki Petkovski, certified unrisked net attributable 2U prospective resources at Hussar of 283 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of helium, 315 Bcf of hydrogen and 2.93 trillion cubic feet of hydrocarbon gas, which Georgina estimates could equate to a combined in-situ value of approximately $152 billion, with no certainty of commercial recovery.
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"The company is working with Ensign to facilitate mobilisation as quickly as possible and we anticipate that road closures due to unseasonal weather conditions will be overcome with careful planning," said chief executive Anthony Hamilton, adding that drilling Hussar for its helium and hydrogen potential into a full field development "remains our priority target".
Georgina said further updates will follow as it progresses toward a revised spud date.