Fairview

The Fairview coal bed methane gas field in the Bowen Basin Region of Queensland is located in the Comet Ridge Project area, 120 kilometres north of Roma and about 550 kilometres north west of Brisbane. The Comet Ridge Project area totals about 5,000 square kilometres.

The Fairview Gas Field is Owned by Santos and Origin Energy
The Fairview gas field is majority owned by Santos with over 76 percent interest and Origin Energy that holds just over 20 percent. Santos is the operator of the field. The Fairview gas field was initially drilled in August 1994 and its first gas production occurred in January 1995. It became a commercial gas field when gas from the project was first sold in 1997.

Fairview Gas Filed Acquired by Santos From Tipperary Corporation
Santos acquired the Fairview coal seam gas field when it purchased the Comet Ridge coal seam gas project and 4,000 square kilometres of exploration agreements in 2005, when it acquired Tipperary Corporationís assets and added them to the Santos portfolio. At the end of 2007 over 170 wells had been drilled at the Comet Ridge Project area with 130of them in the Fairview gas field. Seventy-nine of these wells are still producing gas the others are undergoing a dewatering process and waiting to be reconnected.

Fairview Gas Piped to Wallumbilla Gas Hub Near Roma
The gas produced at the Fairview coal bed methane gas field is gathered by two compressor sites where it is dried and compressed before being piped from the field into the Alinta operated Queensland Gas Pipeline system via the 128 kilometre Comet Ridge to Wallumbilla pipeline.

After Santos acquired its shareholding into the Fairview gas field operation additional wells have been drilled and extra compression provided resulting in gas production from the field being increased by 166 percent. In 2012 gas production from the Fairview field had increased to 200 TJ a day.

The important Fairview to Wallumbilla gas pipeline takes the gas to the Wallumbilla gas hub near Roma. This pipeline overcame previous infrastructure limitations and became imperative to Fairview being able to reach its full gas production potential. The pipeline has allowed the Fairview coal seam gas field to become the largest producing gas field in Australia.

Fairview Gas Field Identified by Tri-Star Petroleum in 1989
The Fairview field was first identified as a potential coal seam gas resource by Tri-Star Petroleum in 1989. Tipperary Oil and Gas Australia (TOGA) began as operators of the gas field in 2002 and remained so until it was acquired by Santos in 2005.

Santos was established as a company in 1954 and has kept up an active profile on the Australian energy scene for the last 50 years. It grew in stature as a household name in the energy industry with its aggressive search for oil in South Australia and Northern Territory. Its first significant natural gas discovery was with the Gidgealpa 2 well in the Cooper Basin in 1963. This find highlighted north east of South Australia as a major petroleum province with the follow up Moomba 1 discovery in 1966. These discoveries resulted in Santos entering into gas sales agreements with the Australian Gas Light Company, the Electricity Trust of South Australia and the South Australian Gas Company.
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