Carnarvon Petroleum secured 100% interest in the WA-521-P offshore exploration permit in the Roebuck basin on Western Australia’s North West Shelf (NWS).
Positioned adjacent to the Phoenix/Roc acreage, Carnarvon has been studying the potential of the Lower Triassic petroleum system that it believes lies along the entire length of the NWS.
The discovery of hydrocarbons at the Phoenix South-1 and Roc-1 wells in this Lower Triassic stratigraphy validates this theory and provides the justification for securing WA-521-P, Carnarvon said.
“Carnarvon continues to build its North West Shelf portfolio, which now includes the Cerberus blocks (100%), the Phoenix/Roc acreage (20-30%), the Outtrim block (28.5%) and now WA-521-P (100%),”said Adrian Cook, Carnarvon managing director and CEO. “As we continue to unlock the potential of the Lower Triassic petroleum systems along the North West Shelf, Carnarvon has demonstrated its strategic focus by securing low-cost acreage in highly prospective locations that are capable of being matured ahead of a rising oil price cycle,” he said.
Carnarvon’s technical team has identified several target structures that are significantly larger than the Phoenix South and Roc discovery areas.
The firm applied to the government for WA-521-P during the current low oil price cycle, with a low-cost bid of purchasing 4000km of reprocessed 2D seismic during the first three-year term, and an optional 300sq km 3D seismic survey in year five of the following discretionary three-year term.
Like the Phoenix area, WA-521-P has seen very little exploration activity in the last decade. Carnarvon said the area would benefit from modern exploration processes and technologies together with the new information that has arisen from the Phoenix South and Roc discoveries.
In March, following the condensate-rich gas discovery in the Roc-1 well, an independent audit into the well showed up to 372 Bcf of gas and 18 MMbbl of condensate recoverable.
The Roc-1 well follows the Phoenix South-1 oil discovery drilled in late 2014, approximately 20km to the north west of Roc-1, by the same joint venture partners such as Carnarvon (20%), Quadrant Energy (operator, 40%), JX Nippon (20%) and Finder Exploration (20%).