Santos Ltd. received geotechnical site investigation service work from Benthic, an Aceteon segment, for Dorado oil and gas field in the Bedout subbasin offshore Western Australia.
Work included geophysical and geotechnical surveys consisting of multiple Cone Penetration Testing (CPT) and borehole locations up to 100 m.
The PROD2 seabed drilling and geotechnical testing system—a proprietary portable remotely operated drill capable of switching between piston sampling and rotary coring—was used. The tool can recover 75 mm diameter cores with continuous sampling capability in water depths to 3,000 m.
In 2019, a successful appraisal program derisked development options for Dorado, which is forecast to have an initial gross oil production rate of 75,000-100,000 b/d (OGJ Online, June 6, 2019; Oct. 8, 2019) .
