Jadestone Energy, an independent upstream production and development company focused on the Asia-Pacific region, announces that the Valaris 247 jack-up rig has arrived on location at the Montara field offshore Australia to drill the Skua-11 well side-track (“Skua-11ST”). 

Skua-11ST is the main activity in Jadestone’s 2025 capital program. Operations will cover safe decommissioning of the existing SK-11 well, after which a side-track will be drilled higher in the Skua structure to accelerate the recovery of reserves from this field. The Skua-11ST program is expected to take c.60 days to complete, with an expected initial oil rate of c.3,500 bbls/d when brought onstream and extending the economic life of the Montara field by one year. The well is expected to cost US$62 million, with a forecast payback period of 16 months and generate a 65% internal rate of return[1].

Adel Chaouch, Executive Chairman of Jadestone, commented:
“We are looking forward to executing drilling operations at Skua-11 safely and efficiently. Bringing this well back into production will add to the positive operational momentum we have seen so far in 2025, with Group production year to date averaging c.21,000 boe/d, slightly ahead of expectations, even after cyclone related downtime in Australia early in the year. The emphasis on high uptime and stable operations is beginning to pay off, as we focus on demonstrating delivery against targets.” 

[1] Based on a Brent oil price assumption of US$80/bbl in 2025, US$77/bbl in 2026 and US$81/bbl in 2027 and escalated at 2% p.a. thereafter

KeyFacts Energy: Jadestone Energy Australia country profile