Formentera Partners has begun natural gas commissioning at the Sturt Plateau Compression Facility, the final piece of infrastructure needed to supply Northern Territory customers, it said Sunday.
Daly Waters Energy, Formentera's Australian operating company, owns the facility through Daly Waters Infrastructure in a 50/50 joint venture with Tamboran Resources (TBN), which operates the project.
The Beetaloo Basin facility has a nameplate capacity of 48.5 million cubic feet per day, or 50 terajoules per day.
A take-or-pay agreement with the Northern Territory government covers 38.8 million cubic feet per day, or 40 terajoules per day, for up to 15 years.
All five wells at the Shenandoah South 2 pad have been completed and connected to the compression facility, according to the company.
"Four years ago, we said we would bring U.S. shale know-how to the Northern Territory, and today the plant is built, five wells are tied in, three additional wells are being drilled, and natural gas is flowing through the facility," said Bryan Sheffield, managing partner of Formentera.
Formentera said the plant arrived on schedule and within the gross $99 million budget, and that the company also plans to sell natural gas during the commissioning period.
Formentera entered the Beetaloo Basin in 2022 and has since acquired 1.9 million net acres, making it one of the basin's largest onshore shale positions.
Appraisal wells indicate the acreage holds multi-TCF potential, which could support demand in the Northern Territory and eventually supply Australia's East Coast cities and industry.
In March 2026, Formentera and Daly Waters partnered with INPEX to accelerate basin development, and in August, the group announced plans to add a Helmerich & Payne (HP) FlexRig, expected to arrive in Q2 2027.
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