ConocoPhillips Australia (CPA) has will become operator of permit Vic/P79 in the offshore Otway basin off western Victoria through a farm-in of 80% interest from 3D Oil Ltd., Melbourne. 3D oil—awarded the permit in February—will retain 20%.
3D will receive an up-front cash payment of $3 million and will be carried for the first $35 million of well costs.
The 2,576-sq km permit has a minimum work commitment of a single well by February 2025.
The permit contains leads in its southeast portion, adjacent to discovered gas fields in the adjoining permits to the east.
The largest of these is the Vanguard prospect, an east-west trending tilted fault block that lies 5 km northwest of Beach Energy’s Geographe producing gas field in production license Vic/L23.
Vanguard has a best estimate resource of 160 bcf of gas.
Two other prospects in Vic/P79 (Defiance and Trident) lie northwest of Vanguard adjacent to Beach’s La Bella gas field in permit Vic/P73. Both are fault-bound tilted fault blocks lying down-flank from the La Bella block with potential reserves in the Upper and Lower Waarre reservoirs of Cretaceous age.
Best estimates for resources are 32.5 bcf for Defiance and 37.2 bcf for Trident.
In the vicinity are two other leads, La Bella Southwest, and La Bella East.
