Santos granted Dorado field production license

Australia’s National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) has granted Santos Ltd. a production license over Dorado oil field in the Bedout subbasin offshore Western Australia.

The license—consisting of four blocks that were previously part of exploration permit WA-437-P—grants Santos the right to produce petroleum from the area and continue to explore for and appraise any additional petroleum within the four blocks. It also allows petroleum production from other areas via the licensed blocks, which means nearby discoveries such as the Pavo oil find can potentially be tied back and produced using the Dorado floating production, storage, and offtake vessel (FPSO).

Dorado, discovered in 2018, lies in 90 m of water about 150 km north of Port Hedland. The front-end engineering and design for Phase 1 is under way with a final investment decision expected midyear.

The $2 billion (Aus.) development proposal includes a reinjection of gas into the reservoir in the initial production phase to maintain reservoir pressure for optimum oil production. Production of 75,000-100,000 b/d is expected. The oil is a light, sweet crude with an API value of 51 degrees.

The field holds 2C contingent resource of 162 million bbl of oil.

The gas, which has a low carbon dioxide content of about 1.5%, will be recovered for domestic use at a later stage.

Santos is operator with 80% interest. Carnarvon Energy Ltd. holds 20%.