Santos, Carnarvon draw up drilling hit list offshore Western Australia

Offshore staff

WEST PERTH, Australia — Carnarvon Energy has issued an update on prospectivity and further drilling opportunities on its acreage in the Bedout sub-basin off Western Australia.

Analysis has revealed more than 100 prospects across permits WA-435-P, WA-436-P, WA-437-P and WA-438-P, all operated by Santos, with Carnarvon holding equity of 20% to 30%. The top five prospects in each permit have been reassessed following this year’s Pavo discovery.

Carnarvon estimates mean prospective resources at these top 20 candidates at more than 1.5 Bboe. Improvements in seismic data acquisition and reprocessing are assisting definition of the future drilling targets.

Various prospects are now undergoing high grading for possible drilling campaigns. According to the company’s managing director and CEO Adrian Cook, any discoveries could provide either future tiebacks to the Dorado Field complex or support new standalone project hubs.

Dorado and Pavo hold an estimated 200 MMboe-plus of oil and associated gas, with the liquids set to form the basis for a first-phase development.

Further drilling into the Pavo structure in WA-438-P should help appraise the southern culmination (potentially 66 MMboe) adjacent to the Pavo North (43 MMboe) discovery and confirm fluids deliverability.

A success could also de-risk prospectivity at Torin, a 58-MMboe closure 15 km southeast of Pavo; and at Ara, a near 600-Bcf prospective gas field with 100 MMboe of associated condensate, identified from a review of the reprocessed Zeester 3D data.

Close by are other gas prospects, such as Wendolene (335 Bcf) and Yuma (434 Bcf), providing potential feedstock for the Stage 2 gas development at Dorado.

Starbuck (76 MMboe) and Flint (56 MMboe) are medium-risk prospects in WA-436-P that will be high graded through analysis of the Keraudren 3D seismic survey and its areal extensions, acquired in 2019-2022.

Success at either of these wells, which are on trend, could unlock further prospectivity at Arthur (73 MMboe).

10.04.2022