Archives for June 2026

June 2026

Beta Launch – Dr John Gorter’s book

24/06/2026 Posted by Helen

Dr. John Gorter was a renowned sedimentary geologist based in recent years in Perth, Australia, and is recognized for his contributions to global oil and gas exploration, basin analysis and paleontological studies.

Dr Gorter had a passion for geology, observation, evidence and documenting.

Dr Gorter was writing his autobiography and memoirs before he tragically and unexpectedly passed away in Madagascar in May 2024.

John’s writings are being compiled and published by his wife, Eva Skira AM.

4-6pm Thursday 16 July 2026

Mayfair Lane Pub, 72 Outram St, West Perth

Attendance by invitation. Please contact Eva Skira at eskira26@gmail.com

Omega Commences Civil Works inAdvance of 2026/27 Drilling Program

11/06/2026 Posted by Rachel

Omega announced to the market in May that civil works for well-pad preparation had commenced for the first wells in their 2026/27 drilling program on the oil and gas-bearing eastern flank of the Taroom Trough. The wells are planned within their Canyon Project (PCAs 342 and 343, OMA 100%) and ATP 2081 (OMA 45%, Operator) in Queensland’s Taroom Trough.

The company advises the program is due to commence around the end of June 2026, following completion of preceding wells by another operator.

Australian Oil Co busy in the Surat Basin

11/06/2026 Posted by Rachel

On 15th May, Australia Oil Co announced their recent development and exploration activities in the Surat Basin to the market with production, development and exploration all underway.

Maiden oil lifting of 422 barrels by IOR from the Emu Apple Oil Field at the end of March, with the next lifting scheduled to occur around mid May. Production levels are advised to consistent with expectations of approximately 15 barrels of oil per day and 30% water cut.

Plans to acidize Emu Apple 1 and wash with condensate to improve production rates are underway, whilst the company is also...

Santos announces first oil at Pikka in Alaska

10/06/2026 Posted by Janny

May 18 2026 saw Santos announce first oil from their Pikka project on Alaska's North Slope. One of their tier 1 assets, as per recent investor day briefing, this is a significant milestone for the Australian company. The Pikka project targets the Nanushuk Formation - a Lower Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) shallow marine to non-marine succession that overlies the Torok Formation (Alaska Department of Natural Resources, 2017). The Nanushuk represents a major clinoformal succession that filled the western Colville foreland basin by prograding west to east, along the basin axis (Alaska Department of Natural Resources, 2017).

70 years of exploration in the Cooper Eromanga Basins: what we can learn from collective success and failure

10/06/2026 Posted by Rachel

Our AEP 2026 peer-reviewed paper - Understanding exploration success and failure in the Cooper and Eromanga Basins, South Australia - presents an integrated analysis of open-file well, production, and licensing data to understand the drivers of exploration success and failure. Some 800 exploration wells (Figure 1) have resulted in production of approximately 260 million barrels of oil and 8 trillion cubic feet of raw gas, confirming the basins’ status as a significant onshore petroleum province.

Cooper Basin – seismic processing & where it leads

09/06/2026 Posted by Rachel

By Paul Strong, SA/NT Branch President

On 30 April 2026 the PESA SA/NT Branch held a joint meeting with the ASEG, listening to an interesting talk by consultant Peter Strauss regarding the processing of seismic data in the Cooper Basin, a topic that would be expected to be well known.

Peter challenged the conventions on seismic processing onshore Australia, with modern land 3D seismic datasets often not being fit-for-purpose when targeting smaller-scale structures, with some wells probably not having been drilled in the right place.

Update on Gold Hydrogen’s drilling on the Yorke Peninsula

06/06/2026 Posted by Rachel

By David Spence, Beach Energy

On 28 May 2026 the PESA SA/NT Branch received a fascinating talk on the technical geological side of hydrogen exploration from industry leader Peter Buberndorfer, Chief Geologist of pioneering hydrogen exploration company Gold Hydrogen.

The attendees were taken on a 2-billion-year ride through the regional geology of South Australia. Peter discussed the regional Proterozoic strata that are favourable for hydrogen generation along the boundary of the Gawler Craton.

AEP: PESA Year in Review 2025

06/06/2026 Posted by Rachel

The PESA year in review session at this year's AEP in Adelaide was a popular event, with a crowd coming to hear insights from the PESA speakers. The speakers this year were: Martin Wilkes from RISC Advisory talking about Production and Development; Anne Forbes from Wood Mackenzie talking about the Business Environment, and; Andrew McKerron from PESA SA/NT branch talking about Exploration.

You can read their abstracts below and access their extended AEP abstracts via the PESA Library. Each speaker will be giving a version of their talk in an upcoming webinar with details below.

Access the AEP Extended Abstract here.

PESA Queensland May Meeting

06/06/2026 Posted by Rachel

By Sue Slater, PESA Queensland Branch President

On Thursday 28 th May PESA Qld held their second technical lunch for 2026. Comet Ridge’s Tor McCaul and Mel Fitzell gave a capacity crowd an update on the Mahalo Gas Hub project.

Comet Ridge has secured a significant acreage position at the Mahalo Gas Hub in the southern Bowen Basin. This region is shaping up to be a major gas production hub for the east coast, with proven ommercial production rates, development-ready 2P gas reserves, and excellent access to key infrastructure to domestic and LNG export markets.

2026 PESA AGM and AEP

04/06/2026 Posted by Janny

Our 2026 AGM was held on Monday 18th May in Adelaide. It was smooth sailing through the official parts, and we were happy to celebrate the announcement of our 2026 Barry Goldstein Award winner; Professor Ken McClay.

We also handed over the 40-year (!!!) continuous membership certificate to Mick Small. All other certificates were taken by the Branch Presidents to be handed over at Branch events throughout the year.

The PESA conference booth was organised and staffed by volunteers from the SA/NT Branch, as well as a number of interstate members.