Page 4 - AsianOil Week 12 2022

AsianOil COMMENTARY AsianOil

Santos announces Pavo

discovery off Australia

Santos announced a “significant” oil discovery with the

Pavo-1 well offshore Western Australia, boosting the

prospects for its nearby Dorado development and further
exploration in the region

PERFORMANCE AUSTRALIA’S Santos announced on March According to Santos’ announcement, Pavo
23 that it had made a “significant” oil discov- has “excellent” reservoir quality interpreted
WHAT: ery with the Pavo-1 exploration well offshore from logs, with 19% average porosity, per-
Santos’ Pavo-1 discovery Western Australia. The discovery bodes well for meabilities in the 100-1,000 millidarcy range
bodes well for other other projects in the region, with the potential and hydrocarbon saturations averaging 80%.
projects in the region. to be tied back to the Dorado field, on which This is similar to what the company has
Santos has yet to make a final investment deci- encountered at the Dorado field, which it also
WHY: sion (FID). The company Santos also has further operates.
Bounty Oil & Gas has said exploration drilling plans lined up for the region. Santos has estimated that the northern cul-
targets at its Cerberus Meanwhile, Bounty Oil & Gas has highlighted mination of the Pavo structure could hold a best
project are analogous targets within its own exploration acreage that it estimate contingent resource of 43mn barrels of
to Pavo-1, which Santos said are analogous to Pavo-1. oil on a gross basis. Based on the company’s 70%
could tie back to Dorado. interest in the WA-438-P, which contains the
Major discovery discovery, Santos’ share of this would be 30mn
WHAT NEXT: The Pavo-1 find was made 46 km east of the barrels. Carnarvon Energy owns the remaining
Santos is due to drill Dorado field in the Bedout sub-basin. The 30% in the permit.
the Yoorn-1 prospect well was drilled on the northern culmination
on northern border of of the greater Pavo structure and encountered Regional boost
Cerberus in the fourth a 60-metre gross hydrocarbon column in the The find represents good news for a number
quarter and is also due to primary Caley member reservoir target, San- of developments in the area. Santos’ managing
make an FID on Dorado tos said. The company added that wireline data director and CEO, Kevin Gallagher, said the
this year. had confirmed 46 metres of net oil pay, with an Pavo discovery could add further material value
oil-water contact intersected at 3,004 metres to the Dorado project.
measured depth. “The Pavo-1 success is expected to support

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 12 25•March•2022