Welcome to our first update to shareholders for 2023, in what is already shaping up to be an exciting year for the Company.

Our key focus is to progress the Dorado development in the Bedout sub-basin, offshore Western Australia, towards a Final Investment Decision (FID).

Front-End Engineering and Design work is substantially complete, while key regulatory approvals and contracting activities for the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel and Wellhead Platform (WHP) continue to advance.

While it was disappointing to push back FID in the second half of last year, it was a prudent decision by the Carnarvon-Santos joint venture after thoughtful consideration of high inflation rates, supply chain risks and the timing of regulatory approvals.

We’re already seeing positive signs at this early stage of 2023, such as steel prices stabilising, which bodes well for finalising the FPSO and WHP contracts, with the price of steel a key factor influencing production costs in the vessel and processing construction industry.

On the funding front, we continue to receive strong interest from financiers, while conversations are ongoing with interested parties around a partial divestment of the Company’s interests in the Bedout sub-basin.

Progress at last year’s Pavo North oil discovery also continues, as the JV explores a potential to tie-back development to the proposed Dorado facilities, further enhancing the economics of the project.

Preliminary studies carried out in the final quarter of 2022 indicate Pavo fluids are compatible with the proposed Dorado processing equipment and similar to the Dorado semi-stabilised fluids, providing further support for the proposed low-cost development pathway.

Finally, in early 2022 we revealed a site in the Shire of Narrogin had been selected for the Company’s first renewable diesel production facility it is proposing to build through our FutureEnergy Australia (FEA) JV with Frontier Impact Group.

Progress continues to be made, with the Development Application (DA) submitted with the Shire of Narrogin late last year, while referral to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) was made for the construction and operation of the facility.  

Both the DA and EPA approvals are anticipated in the second quarter of 2023, ahead a of an anticipated final investment decision in the second half of the year.

This year has the potential to be transformative for the Company and I look forward to sharing further updates with you in the weeks and months ahead.