Welcome to 2022 from the Carnarvon Energy team.

Our year started off incredibly busy with Buffalo-10 operations in full swing from late December. 

This was our first offshore operated drilling campaign, and while it did not deliver the result we planned for, we still have a lot to look forward to as we undertake an extensive exploration program in the Bedout Basin.

The next focus is on our high impact Bedout Basin drilling campaign, some 100km north of Port Hedland, which is scheduled to commence next month with the Pavo-1 well.

This is an attractive prospect with Carnarvon calculating the mean recoverable volumes at 82 million barrels of liquids and 108 Bcf of gas. Soon after, drilling of the Apus-1 well will commence, which has an estimated mean recoverable volume of 235 million barrels of liquids and 408 Bcf of gas.

Either or both targets have the potential to be tied back to our Dorado field, although if Apus proves to have high volumes, it could be become a standalone development.

Both wells are located in less than 100m of water and drilling will be carried out by Noble’s Tom Prosser rig.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of these two wells within our Bedout Basin acreage is their proximity to the world class Dorado field – as we well know it’s one of the biggest Australian liquids discoveries in a long time.

Being less than 50 km from the Dorado location, sub-sea tieback options are highly viable and could reduce capital investment required for processing facilities. The Dorado Final Investment Decision (FID) remains on schedule for mid-2022, with the Front-end Engineering and Design (FEED) work advancing across all of the development streams at the moment.

Back onshore, further development of our pioneering renewable diesel joint venture in Western Australia is making good progress with key negotiations on site location, FEED, wood feedstock and offtake all underway. This includes widespread local community consultation being conducted by our joint venture partners Frontier Impact Group.

Despite the Buffalo outcome, our outlook remains upbeat as we embark on an exciting year of activity that includes a company transforming Dorado FID, drilling two Bedout basin exploration targets and making progress on the renewables front with our “green diesel” venture.

From all of us at Carnarvon Energy, we wish you a safe, happy and prosperous 2022.