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).
Janny
2026 PESA AGM and AEP
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.
2026 Barry Goldstein Award Winner – Ken McClay
We are happy to announce that Professor Ken McClay is the recipient of the 2026 Barry Goldstein Award for Innovation, Collaboration and Communication in Geoscience.
We received several worthy nominations this year, some people got nominated by several individuals. A big thank you to all who took the effort to nominate some outstanding individuals! The final selection focussed specifically on the key skills of innovation, collaboration and communication that define the Barry Goldstein Award.
With Adelaide University announcing in 2019 his return to Adelaide with the title "World-leading economic geologist returns home to Adelaide" Ken is indeed an outstanding geoscientist.
PESA 2025 MSA Awards – Cristy Little and Vincent Crombez
The PESA Meritorious Service Award (MSA) recognizes individuals who voluntarily provide exceptional service to PESA at State or Federal level over a significant period of time. No more than three MSAs are made in a single year, and an individual can only receive the award once.
We are happy to announce that Cristy Little and Vincent Crombez have been nominated successfully by the WA Branch for the MSA award for their contributions to PESA.
Cristy was nominated for her role as Sponsorship Manager for the WA Branch Committee. She has been instrumental in securing significant sponsorship from the WA industry.
PESA 2025 DSA Award – Dr John Conolly
The PESA Distinguished Service Award (DSA) recognises outstanding long-term commitment to the Society, including leadership and involvement in Committees, the profession and to the resources industry. It is the highest honour bestowed on an individual member by the Society and only one DSA award is given in any year. A recipient of the DSA becomes a Distinguished Member of the society.
We are delighted to announce that John Conolly was nominated successfully for the DSA award by the PESA NSW & ACT Branch for his outstanding contributions to PESA and the industry.
Over a period spanning more than 50 years, John has made a profound impact on the industry in roles covering academia, industry leadership and independent consulting.
PESA 2026 Membership Awards
PESA is more than a group of people who like to meet up over lunch and talk about the old days. We continue to promote professional and technical aspects of the energy geoscience industry throughout Australia by providing a medium for gathering interested individuals.
We also aim to present views and discuss technical and professional matters relating to the energy geoscience industry, foster and provide continuing education for the benefit of our members, and to encourage and maintain a high standard of professional conduct on the part of our members.
Since Covid we have at our AGM, or afterwards at our various State Branch meetings, celebrated those members who have clocked up 10, 20, 30 and 40 years of continuous membership (*).
Women’s Leadership Scholarships
Advance your career with with an Energy Sector women's leadership scholarship, provided by Women & Leadership Australia.
Available Now: Partial scholarships for women in the Energy & Utilities Industry ranging from $700 to $5,000 per person, for one of four leadership and workplace skill development programs. These four range from workplace skills to early career managers, mid-level managers and senior & executive leaders.
These scholarships are aimed at encouraging more women to increase their impact at work, progress their career, and step into leadership roles.
Registrations of interest close on Friday 22nd August 2025.
Via our website: https://www.wla.edu.au/industry/energy/
eFWI Using WEB-AVO at Delft Inversion
By John Coffin
This year we have seen plenty of publicity and interest in elastic full waveform inversion, or eFWI and the potential benefits and advantages it can provide. At Delft Inversion we have been using eFWI for over 12 years focussing on quantitative interpretation and seismic reservoir characterisation. This article explains how and why we do this.
The eFWI technology developed at Delft Inversion is called WEB-AVO which stands for Wave Equation Based AVO inversion. So, what does this mean? We solve the integral representation of the wave equation.
Core Storage is at Capacity at the Exploration Data Centre in Zillmere, your Support is Needed!
The Exploration Data Centre (EDC) in Zillmere, QLD is a cornerstone of Queensland's geoscientific infrastructure, preserving and providing access to an extensive collection of geological core samples and drill cuttings. These samples are fundamental to research, mineral and energy exploration, and long-term resource planning for the state. However, the facility is currently at or near full capacity, significantly limiting the ability to archive new sedimentary cores from exploration, appraisal and development programs.
At the Australian Energy Producers (AEP) Conference held in Brisbane from May 26–29, 2025, significant discussions centred on Queensland's oil and gas investment outlook.