Santos has commenced commercial natural gas production from its Moomba-191 shale well in Australia’s Cooper basin, the company announced.

The Moomba-191 shale well is flowing natural gas at a stabilized rate of 2.7 MMscf/d from the Roseneath, Epsilon, and Murteree shale targets, according to a news release.

“The well was only 350 m (1,148 ft) from the existing pipeline network and 8 km (5 miles) from Moomba's gas processing plant, which enabled it to be brought on line quickly,” Santos Vice President Eastern Australia James Baulderstone said.

Further drilling is planned for the area, including an ongoing vertical well appraisal program and Santos’ first horizontal shale well planned for early 2013.

Santos has a 66.6% interest in the South Australian Cooper basin joint venture. The other participants are Beach Energy, 20.21%; and Origin Energy, 13.19%.