3D Energi Sauropod 3D seismic environmental plan covering 3447 km 2 offshore Western Australia has received regulatory approval from the country’s National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environment Management Authority (NOPSEMA).
3D Energi Sauropod 3D seismic environmental plan covering 3447 km2 offshore Western Australia has received regulatory approval from the country’s National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environment Management Authority (NOPSEMA).
The acquisition and processing of ≥510km2 of 3D seismic data over the most prospective areas of the permit forms a minimum commitment for the primary term work program of WA-527-P.
The approved EP allows for a maximum full-fold acquisition area of 3447km2 over the western half of WA-527-P and provides for acquisition in 2024 or 2025, between January-May (inclusive). The survey acquisition is anticipated to take approximately two months.
Noel Newell, executive chairman of 3D Energi, said: ‘The approval of the Sauropod MC3D Environmental Plan represents an important step forward for the project given the recent regulatory uncertainty surrounding environmental permitting.
3D Energi holds a 100% participating interest in WA-527-P exploration permit, which covers an area of 6580 km2 over shallow Commonwealth waters of the Bedout Sub-Basin, where water depths generally range from 100 to 150 m.. The permit is located 195 km west of Broome, on the Northwest Shelf, adjacent to the 2018 Dorado Discovery and along trend from the recent 2022 Pavo oil discovery.
‘We have long recognised the exploration potential of the Bedout and remain excited about the exploration potential of WA-527-P and the Dorado lookalike features identified within the permit on reprocessed 2D seismic data.
The recent 2022 Pavo discovery along trend from the permit further highlights the prospectivity of these plays along the basin margin, and the prolific nature of the greater petroleum system offshore Western Australia.. The Sauropod 3D will be critical to the full evaluation of the prospectivity recognised to date and the further delineation of potential drilling targets.’
The Sauropod MC3D is critical to the evaluation of the full prospectivity of WA-527-P, especially for the delineation of potential Dorado lookalike traps identified on reprocessed 2D seismic within the permit,’ said 3D Energi. The Dorado oil discovery in 2018 was the largest oil discovery on the Northwest Shelf in 30 years and has spurred a resurgence in exploration activity in the basin. The trapping mechanism at Dorado involves the erosional truncation of the Archer Formation sandstone reservoirs by large channels, subsequently backfilled with shales during a rapid rise in sea level, and there are strong indications for a northern extension to the Dorado channel system into WA-527-P.
The EP area for the Sauropod 3D survey also covers several large leads on the western side of WA-527-P, including Salamander which is the third largest undrilled structure in the basin. Some 349 MMbbls of prospective resources (best estimate) has been identified across three main leads, including Salamander, Whaleback and Jaubert. Further exploration appraisal and evaluation is required to determine the existence of a significant quantity of potentially moveable hydrocarbons.
The company is continuing discussions with interested farm-in parties and is collaborating with CGG around vessel availability.
