Australia’s Dorado: A black gold bonanza
After three decades without sizable discoveries, Western Australia is now the country’s most exciting exploration province
Australia's largest oil find in three decades reportedly came about by accident. Perth-based mid-cap explorer Carnarvon Petroleum was looking to prove the size of its Phoenix South gas resource when it stumbled upon a vast oil find in shallow water close to shore. Located in the Bedout Sub-basin, some 100km (62 miles) off the coast just north of Karratha, the Dorado field is estimated to hold an initial 171m barrels of oil and 16m barrels of condensate, a 2C liquids total of 186m barrels. This is well above the average discovery size of 60m barrels in the North West Shelf (NWS). Dorado is also estimated to hold 552bn cubic feet (2C) of gas, giving a total volume of oil equivalent at 283m bar
Also in this section
26 April 2024
While the US has been breaking records for its premium grade crude, there are doubts over whether you can have too much of a good thing
26 April 2024
Slowing demand growth and capacity expansions will squeeze refiners in coming years
25 April 2024
Some companies with assets in Israel have turned towards Egypt as tensions escalate, but others are holding firm despite rising tensions
24 April 2024
But even planned exploration activity is unlikely to reverse declining output from mature fields