The Dorado oil field was largest oil discovery made on Western Australia’s North West Shelf in three decades when it was discovered in 2018.

Uncovered as part of the greater Phoenix exploration campaign in the Bedout sub-basin, Dorado is an in important development in Australia’s energy landscape, estimated to hold about 162 million barrels of light oil and condensate, on a gross 2C basis.

Combined with the estimated gross 748 billion cubic feet of 2C contingent gas resource, Dorado has been assessed to hold a gross 2C contingent resource of 344 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The Joint Venture has been systematically de-risking the Dorado development. A successful appraisal program in 2019 de-risked the Dorado development, and during the Financial Year ended June 2025 the JV finalised pre-Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) for an optimised development concept was completed.

The optimisation revolved around right-sizing the oil production rate to 60,000 bopd, which provided the Joint Venture an opportunity to reduce upfront capital expenditure through using a redeployed FPSO, conventional piled WHP, and lower number of development wells upfront. The optimisation also resulted in a development period which could see first oil three years after FID.

The Joint Venture is currently reviewing the timeline for the project.

Carnarvon holds a 10% interest in the Dorado discovery, with operator Santos Ltd holding 80% and CPC the remaining 10% equity.