Metgasco’s booked reserves plunge as development funding remains unresolved

Reserve Base Shrinks as Development Status Changes

Metgasco Ltd (ASX:MEL) has seen its booked Cooper Basin reserve base contract sharply, with net 2P reserves falling to 6.2 petajoules equivalent at 30 June 2026 from 36.45 PJe a year earlier. Net 1P reserves fell to 0.7 PJe from 18.15 PJe.

The headline reduction is not being attributed to a fall in gas in place. Instead, an independent assessment by Chris Dykes Reserves International Limited reclassified gas previously treated as reserves into contingent resources, reflecting Metgasco’s current capital expenditure plans. The assessment covers the Odin and Vali gas fields, in which the company has a 25% net entitlement under the relevant licensing terms.

31.45 PJe Moves Into the Contingent Resource Category

Metgasco now reports 31.45 PJe of net 2C contingent resources, compared with zero in the prior assessment. Of that amount, 30.15 PJe represents reserves moved into the contingent category, while a further 1.3 PJe is classified as a revision reflecting technically recoverable gas not previously included in reported reserves.

The company says gas without current development plans has been classified as a contingent resource because there is no firm commitment to proceed with a larger-scale development. That commitment, in turn, is contingent on the results of current activities. The distinction matters: the gas remains in the resource inventory, but it is no longer counted in the near-term reserve base under the independent assessment.

The reserve reset lands after Metgasco’s approved field sale was intended to transfer its 25% interests in Odin and Vali for A$5.9 million, although that transaction was later terminated after funding conditions were not met. The current announcement does not address that transaction, but it places the fields’ development status and capital requirements back in the foreground.

Only 1.3 PJe of 2P Reserves Is Developed

Of the 6.2 PJe of 2P reserves now booked, 1.3 PJe is classified as developed and 4.9 PJe as undeveloped. Sales gas accounts for 6.05 PJe, with the balance comprising 1.1 kilotonnes of LPG and 0.025 million barrels of condensate. The 2P estimate is reported on a net basis and incorporates the product streams for which Metgasco receives payment.

CDRI said it was not aware of new data or information that materially affected the assessment and considered the material assumptions and technical parameters to remain applicable. The numbers were prepared under the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ 2018 Petroleum Resources Management System, but the classification change leaves the timing and funding of any larger development unresolved.