TMK Energy steps on gas with fresh Mongolian drilling

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗
The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-10-14 · by Murray Ward

Quick Summary

TMK Energy has begun its 2026 drilling program in Mongolia at the Gurvantes XXXV coal-bed methane pilot project. The company mobilized equipment and started optimizing existing wells by removing idle pumps and preparing for re-completions to increase gas flow. CEO Dougal Ferguson announced an average daily production of 950 cubic meters, a significant rise from previous months, indicating potential commercial viability soon.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-14, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

TMK Energy has launched an aggressive drilling program at its Gurvantes XXXV coal-bed methane pilot project in Mongolia, mobilizing a workover rig and crane to optimize gas flow from existing wells. The company aims to install smaller tubing and pumps, which it predicts will increase production. Since the re-completion strategy began last week, the field has been averaging approximately 950 cubic meters per day, marking a significant rise compared to September levels.

The initial phase focuses on optimizing LF-03, LF-02, and LF-06 wells by installing a new 5.5-inch slotted liner inside the existing 7-inch liner, with plans to drill an additional well, LF-08, in smaller hole sizes to accommodate future production needs. TMK Energy’s CEO Dougal Ferguson stated that if this strategy proves successful, it will be replicated across all its existing Lucky Fox wells in 2027.

Written for “TMK Energy Mongolian Drilling” on 2026-10-14, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
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No political leaning scored for article 78473 · logged 2026-10-14

Story

📰 TMK Energy Mongolian Drilling
Economy/Business · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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Cite this article

Ward, M. (2026, October 14). TMK Energy steps on gas with fresh Mongolian drilling. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/tmk-energy-steps-on-gas-with-fresh-mongolian-drilling-20261014-p615lo.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
2 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Economy/Business
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-14 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 3585 article(s) · 10 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 10 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Murray Ward
36 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The optimisation process will initially apply to wells LF-03, LF-02 and LF-06.
2026-10-14 · assertive framing · TMK Energy steps on gas with fresh Mongolian drilling
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2026-10-13 · assertive framing · Orbit sets $12M rare earths spin-off in motion
🔮 The ASX junior will hold a 90 per cent interest in the projects once the deals are completed.
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🔮 Dalaroo believes this apparent geological link-up could strongly indicate the scale of the mineralising system it has on its hands.
🔮 A majority of the 11,082-metre program will be trained on three major targets: Excelsior, the Demagnetised Target and the Excelsior Repeat.
🔮 Unico now has a pro-forma cash pile of $110 million in pro-forma cash to fund 20,000 metres of drilling across its Joaquin and Cerro Leon silver-gold projects in Argentina, with an updated resource and Joaquin’s maiden prefeasibility study set to land by January 2027.
🔮 Dalaroo Metals is gearing up for a fresh drilling assault on what could be a major new discovery at the Wilfred target in Côte d’Ivoire, after maiden drilling at its Bondoukou project delivered a spectacular hit of 18 metres at 7.31 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from just 63m.
🔮 The 53-hole, 3200-metre program is designed to follow up highly encouraging gold mineralisation hits from a previous campaign and will test strike continuity and the system’s lateral extent.
🔮 The holes were drilled from opposing directions in a scissor-style pattern, giving Dalaroo its first look at how the mineralised structures may sit beneath the surface and reducing the risk of drilling parallel to them.
2026-10-07 · assertive framing · Rich Côte d’Ivoire gold strike sends Dalaroo soaring
Also by Murray Ward
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2026-10-14 · The Sydney Morning Herald
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2026-10-13 · The Sydney Morning Herald
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2026-10-12 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 36 articles by Murray Ward →

Topics

LF-03 LF-07 Mongolia TMK TMK Energy

Subjects

TMK ORG · 5× Dougal Ferguson PERSON · 2× TMK Energy ORG · 2× ASX ORG · 1× China GPE · 1× Dashvaanjil Group ORG · 1× Mongolia GPE · 1× Mongolian NORP · 1×

Narrative

‘As of today, the field has been averaging approximately 950 cubic metres per day a strong increase the gas rate achieved in September.’TMK Energy chief executive officer Dougal Ferguson If the re-completion strategy proves successful in boosting gas flows, the company says it will undertake the same process on all its existing Lucky Fox wells in 2027.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-14
🔮 The optimisation process will initially apply to wells LF-03, LF-02 and LF-06.
2026-10-14 · The Sydney Morning Herald
TMK Energy steps on gas with fresh Mongolian drilling · assertive framing

Claims (23 extracted, 2 hedged)

TMK Energy has fired up the engines on a 2026 work program at the company’s Gurvantes XXXV coal-bed methane pilot project in Mongolia, mobilising a workover rig and crane to kick off a well optimisation and drilling campaign. asserted
Energy → fire → campaign
Set-up has now started at the 100 per cent-owned project, with the workover rig and a 70-tonne crane arriving on site last week. asserted
rig → set → site
The first order of business was to remove the currently idle pump and production string from well LF-03, which is now being prepared for a cleanout and the first of three planned re-completions. asserted
which → remove → completions
The work is designed to optimise gas flow from existing wells. asserted
work → design → wells
The plan involves installing a new, smaller 5.5-inch slotted liner inside the existing 7-inch liner, before running smaller tubing and pumps. asserted
plan → involve → tubing
TMK says the reduced-diameter spacing should boost production from the existing wellbores. asserted
spacing → say → wellbores
The optimisation process will initially apply to wells LF-03, LF-02 and LF-06. asserted
process → apply → LF-03
Once the three workovers are in the bag, the company plans to spud a new well, dubbed LF-08. asserted
company → plan → well
This will be drilled with a smaller hole size from the get-go to accommodate the 5.5-inch slotted liner. asserted
This → drill → liner
‘As of today, the field has been averaging approximately 950 cubic metres per day a strong increase the gas rate achieved in September.’TMK Energy chief executive officer Dougal Ferguson If the re-completion strategy proves successful in boosting gas flows, the company says it will undertake the same process on all its existing Lucky Fox wells in 2027. asserted
it → average → 2027
That includes LF-07, which remains the star performer in the pilot field. asserted
which → include → field
Across TMK’s well portfolio, September’s average output climbed eight per cent from August to 872 cubic metres a day, equivalent to 30,800 standard cubic feet per day (scfd). asserted
output → climb → day
So far in October, the average has climbed dramatically from September to 950 cubic metres per day, or 33,549 scfd, suggesting the field may be rapidly closing in on commercial flow rates. uncertain
field → climb → rates
TMK Energy chief executive officer Dougal Ferguson said: “I am pleased to advise that the 2026 Work Program has now commenced at the Pilot Well Project with the LF-03 pump replacement and re-completion being the first of many field-based operations over the coming two months. asserted
replacement → say → months
Returning LF-03 to production after several months of being idle should only add to the overall increasing production in the field.” Gurvantes XXXV sits less than 20 kilometres from China, one of the world’s largest energy markets and close to several mining operations in need of additional industrial power. asserted
XXXV → return → power
The company’s 8400-square-kilometre project hosts an independently certified 2C contingent resource of 1.2 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) across 60 square kilometres. asserted
project → host → kilometres
Although the classification covers potentially recoverable gas, further appraisal and development work is still required. asserted
work → cover → gas
In contrast, an additional 5.3 Tcf of best-estimate prospective resources hints at the scale of the prize across the wider project area. asserted
Tcf → estimate → area
Additionally, TMK has proposed a one-megawatt gas-to-power project with Mongolian partner Dashvaanjil Group, which would feed off the company’s gas and supply TMK’s operational power needs and nearby industrial users. asserted
which → propose → needs
Management says it intends to make a final investment decision before the end of October, subject to commercial arrangements. asserted
it → say → arrangements
With its first well now under the microscope for optimisation and a new drill campaign on the horizon, TMK appears to be methodically turning up the heat at Gurvantes XXXV. asserted
TMK → appear → XXXV
In a region that is beginning to attract major energy players, proving a repeatable, optimised production model could be a shrewd move. uncertain
proving → begin → model
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? asserted
company → list → something
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