Carnarvon Petroleum has secured a 100% interest in a newly awarded offshore exploration permit, WA-521-P, located in the Roebuck Basin and positioned immediately adjacent to the Phoenix/Roc acreage on Western Australia’s North West Shelf (NWS).
Carnarvon Managing Director and CEO, Adrian Cook said, “Carnarvon continues to build its North West Shelf portfolio, which now includes the Cerberus blocks (100% CVN), the Phoenix/Roc acreage (20-30% CVN), the Outtrim block (28.5% CVN) and now WA-521-P (100% CVN).
“As we continue to unlock the potential of the Lower Triassic petroleum systems along the North West Shelf, Carnarvon has demonstrated its strategic focus by securing low-cost acreage in highly prospective locations that are capable of being matured ahead of a rising oil price cycle.”
According to the company, for the past five years Carnarvon has been studying the potential of the Lower Triassic petroleum system that the company believes lies along the entire length of the NWS. The discovery of hydrocarbons (oil, condensate and gas) at the Phoenix South-1 and Roc-1 wells in this Lower Triassic stratigraphy validates this theory and provides the justification for securing WA-521-P.
Carnarvon listed the following reason for acquiring the exploration permit:
– The potential for the proven Lower Triassic petroleum systems and source rocks from the Phoenix and Roc area to extend into WA-521-P;
– Lower Triassic generated hydrocarbons can directly charge into the overlying Jurassic Sands;
– Jurassic sands are sealed by regionally extensive Cretaceous shales; and
– Numerous structural closures and initial seismic mapping indicates the structures to be larger in area than the Phoenix South and Roc discovery closure areas.
Carnarvon said that its technical team identified several target structures that are significantly larger than the Phoenix South and Roc discovery areas.
Carnarvon applied to the Government for WA-521-P during the current low oil price cycle, with a low-cost bid of purchasing 4,000km of reprocessed 2D seismic during the first three year term, and acquiring an optional 300km² 3D seismic survey in year 5 of the following discretionary three-year term.
Like the Phoenix area, WA-521-P has seen very little exploration activity in the last decade and Carnarvon noted it believes the area would benefit from modern exploration processes and technologies together with the new information that has arisen from the Phoenix South and Roc discoveries.