Company Updates

Red Sky Busy in the Cooper Basin

12/05/2026 Posted by Sarah.Harris

Red Sky Energy (Red Sky) have announced they have entered into binding agreement with JV partner Santos Ltd to drill 3 wells in the Cooper Basin.

On 1st April, Red Sky advised they had executed a binding Authority for Expenditure (AFE) with joint venture partner Santos Limited for two Yarrow wells within the Innamincka Dome, Cooper Basin, South Australia. This two-well program represents the next phase of development within the producing Yarrow field and follows the successful tie-in and commissioning of Yarrow 1 in November 2025.

Furthermore, on 13th April, they announced they were participating in the high-impact Willowie appraisal gas well also targeting the Innamincka Dome area.

Santos announces Alaska appraisal success and provides major projects update

12/05/2026 Posted by Sarah.Harris

On 8 April 2016, Santos announced the successful completion of the Quokka-1 appraisal well, which has further delineated the high-quality Nanushuk reservoir in the Quokka Unit on Alaska’s North Slope. Santos controls a 51 per cent operating interest in the unit, with Repsol controlling the remaining 49 per cent.

The Quokka-1 well was spudded on 1 January 2026 and drilled to a total depth of 4,787 feet (1,459 metres). The well successfully encountered a high-quality reservoir with approximately 143 feet of net oil pay in the Nanushuk formation, demonstrating an average porosity of 19 per cent.

Amplitude Energy Share Isabella Results

06/04/2026 Posted by Rachel

Amplitude Energy have announced that the recent Isabella gas discovery, offshore Victoria, has been assessed as not commercial (Media Release 25 March 2026).

The Isabella field is located in permit VIC/L24 within Commonwealth waters, south-west of the producing Casino field. Amplitude Energy is operator and 50% interest holder in VIC/L24 with O.G. Energy holding the remaining 50% interest (the “Joint Venture”). The Isabella field was drilled as a planned sidetrack (“ST-1”) from the earlier Elanora-1 well.

As announced on 2 March 2026, the ST-1 8 ½-inch hole section penetrated the primary Waarre C reservoir target on 1 March 2026.

Elixir Energy Announce Taroom Trough Results

07/03/2026 Posted by Rachel

Elixir Energy this month announced success at their Lorelle-3 pilot, interpreting 148m of total net pay across the primary, secondary and tertiary Permian reservoir targets, with associated elevated mudgas readings. The Lorelle-3 pilot was drilled in ATP2056 within Queensland’s Taroom Trough. Elixir Energy hold a 50% interest in ATP 2056 and are operator of the Lorelle 3 appraisal well. Santos hold the remaining 50% interest in the permit and will be operator of the permit thereafter.

Elixir Energy interpret the primary target, the Tinowon Dunk sandstone, to be 56m thick with 28m net pay interpreted, supported by elevated mud gas readings and fluorescence in cuttings.

Natural hydrogen future to unfold with new drilling

09/12/2025 Posted by Rachel

Natural hydrogen pioneer Gold Hydrogen is aiming to gather enough information from its second round of drilling on its South Australia tenement to design a pilot project towards commercialisation of its hydrogen and helium assets.

The company was the first in Australia to drill natural hydrogen-specific exploration wells in 2023, confirming 100-year-old accidental finds of hydrogen by oil prospectors in the 1930s. It also discovered helium, a nice added value.

Armed with results from the 2023 drill program at two sites east of Minlaton, Ramsay 1 and 2, and having conducted an extensive regional 2D seismic survey since, Gold Hydrogen has identified up to three new well sites for its 2025-26 drill campaign.

Exploration Success in the Otway Basin

08/12/2025 Posted by Rachel

November saw the announcement from ConocoPhillips Australia and their JV partners, 3D Energi and Korea National Oil Corporation, the results of their recent drilling campaign in the Otway Basin. Read on below for their issued press release.

November 17th 2025:

ConocoPhillips Australia today announced a natural gas discovery in the Otway Basin (VIC/P79). Initial results from the Essington-1 well have detected the presence of natural gas in the two target reservoirs, Waarre A and Waarre C.

Preliminary estimates from logs and wireline results place the primary Waarre A target reservoir as a 62.6-metre gross hydrocarbon column.

MGPalaeo Honour Australia’s most famous Palynologists with Artwork at New Lab

07/10/2025 Posted by Rachel

MGPalaeo are excited to announce their fully rebuilt laboratory offering significantly more space for an expanding suite of services. They have also taken the opportunity to decorate the place with a mural including selected palynomorphs honouring some of Australia’s most famous palynologists. Read on to learn more about their motivation and the palynologists their artwork honoured.

Time for a rebuild

The original lab was built in 2012 after relocating the main office from Maitland (South Australia) to Perth (Western Australia).

Vp/Vs ratio conventional vs Web-AVO inversion

eFWI Using WEB-AVO at Delft Inversion

07/08/2025 Posted by Janny

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.

PGS advances seismic data interpretation capability through collaboration agreement with Austin-based Onward

25/05/2024 Posted by Dale

PGS has announced a collaboration that facilitates on-demand data interpretation provided by Onward, which leverages Onward's technical capabilities to enhance PGS' existing MultiClient and Data OnDemand services and accelerate interpretation workflows.

The collaboration between Onward and PGS gives subscribers of PGS' OnDemand services the option to access Onward's interpretation services and unlock the subsurface potential of extensive seismic data sets. PGS subscribers that engage Onward's additional services will have access to Onward’s global community of geoscience and data science experts who leverage industry-leading analysis tools in a cloud-based environment (subject to certain conditions).

CGG Changes Name to Viridien

18/05/2024 Posted by Dale

At the Annual General Meeting on May 15, 2024, shareholders approved the resolution to change the company’s corporate name from CGG to Viridien.

Sophie Zurquiyah, CEO, Viridien, said: “Our new name, Viridien, connects our company’s history to our future, confidently positioning us for accelerated growth as an Advanced Technology, Digital and Earth Data Company.”

To further support its growth strategy, the company will launch the new Viridien brand on 10th June at the upcoming EAGE Annual Conference in Oslo, further strengthening its focus across a portfolio of solutions including the Core businesses of Geoscience, Earth Data and Sensing & Monitoring, as well as new offerings in both the Low Carbon markets of Minerals & Mining and CCS, and markets beyond energy in High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Infrastructure Monitoring.