Dorado and PS3, page-46

Bedout Basin oil find ‘tremendous’, says Woodside’s Peter Coleman


Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman. Picture: Will Russell

• The Australian
• 12:00AM July 20, 2018
• PAUL GARVEY
  
  Resources Reporter
  Perth
  @PDGarvey
  

The recent discovery of oil in the Bedout Basin off Western Australia is “tremendous” news for the region, says Woodside chief Peter Coleman.
Oil and gas junior Carnarvon Petroleum revealed on Wednesday it and its partner in the Dorado-1 well, Quadrant Energy, had struck a column of oil while drilling for gas. The discovery has been labelled a game-changer for Carnarvon, whose shares jump another 24 per cent yesterday after spiking by more than 50 per cent on Wednesday.
Woodside has acreage elsewhere in the lightly explored Bedout Basin, which sits between the hydrocarbon-rich Carnarvon and Browse basins. Mr Coleman said the presence of oil would spark enthusiasm for more drilling in the area.
“It’s tremendous, it gives people some hope for the Basin,” Mr Coleman told The Australian. “Just in general it enthuses our explorers to be able to see that you’ve now got an oil-producing kitchen.”
Offshore oil and gas exploration in Australia has plummeted in recent years to its lowest level in decades, driven largely by the sharp fall in oil and gas prices.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed just $25.5 million was spent on offshore drilling in the March quarter, down from $859.3m in June 2014.
Woodside yesterday said its Ferrand-1 well off WA had intersected a 69m gas column during the quarter, and Mr Coleman said further testing was required before the company fully understood what it had found.
“It’s tight rock, we want to make sure how much of the gas is movable before we come out and announce anything more on it,” he said.