PESA Gazette

Chris Watts – New Insights into Energy Geoscience from Postgraduate Research

12/02/2025 Posted by Helen

The Horstman Federal Postgraduate Scholarship, initially launched by PESA in 2019,
continues to attract a growing number of talented applicants pursuing energy geoscience
focussed PhD and Masters projects at universities across Australia.

Last year, a record 21 applications were received for the PESA Horstman Federal
Postgraduate Scholarship from candidates based in Brisbane, Sydney, Wollongong,
Adelaide, and Perth. Research topics were very diverse, ranging from regional basin studies
to CO2 sequestration and storage projects as well as experimental hydrogen resource
studies.

Every four-five years the PESA Federal Board spend a day meeting in person (where possible) to review and update the Society’s strategic plan. The first such plan was released in 2016 with the aim of navigating the downturn in the industry and building foundations for PESA’s future. The second plan (Towards 2024) was released in 2019 with a 5 year operational time frame set within a 10 year planning horizon. The plan was revisited in 2021 but had the means to weather the Covid-19 pandemic in place so did not need significant updates. PESA’s third strategic plan…

2025 PESA Webinar Series Kicks Off

11/02/2025 Posted by Helen

Peter Hoiles – PESA Webinar Coordinator

Running into its sixth year, the PESA Webinar Series has returned for 2025. Generally run every second Tuesday of the month from February to about November, the series offers members from all states and territories the opportunity to hear updates, challenges, stories and field examples from Australia and across the world.

The series kicked off for 2025 on Tuesday the 4^th of February, with a talk by Donald Christie from Fugro. In this webinar, Donald presented the results of…

“Drill Baby Drill”: Implications of Donald Trump’s 2nd Presidency for the US in the South China Sea

11/02/2025 Posted by Helen

Article by Ganesh Sahathevan. First published by Australian institute of International Affairs

Ganesh Sahathevan ERP, MGis (UNE) Grad Dip Spatial Info (UNSW) Director, Centre for Industrial Research Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia. CFRI provides research on the business and politics of this region with a particular emphasis on the oil, gas and renewables industry.

The Trump campaign war cry “we will drill, baby, drill” could lead to a resurgence of oil and gas (O&G) exploration and production in the South China Sea when (and not if) President Donald Trump…

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Upcoming Webinar in collaboration with the CCUS Network Australia – 19th Feb

11/02/2025 Posted by Helen

The CCUS Network Australia is hosting its next webinar on Wednesday 19 February 2025 at 11am (Perth time). In this installment of the CCUSNA Webinar Series, Julian Cheng, Partner at Gilbert + Tobin, will talk about "Navigating the Tax Landscape for CCS Projects".

Abstract:

This presentation will cover key tax considerations relevant to CCS projects including:

The structuring of such projects, taxation of domestic and foreign resident investors, and recent taxation changes that may affect…
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NZ looking to encourage exploration

10/02/2025 Posted by Matthew.Quinn

The New Zealand government is currently proposing a series of changes to the “Crown Minerals Act 1991” including:

Reversal of the 2018 ban on new petroleum exploration outside onshore Taranaki

Removal of the 2018 restriction preventing access to some areas of Taranaki

Awarding permits through both competitive tender and non-tender

Adjusting decommissioning requirements to align with international best practice

Improving regulatory efficiency

PESA members (make sure you are logged in) can access a 10% discount on registration to the upcoming Australian Energy Producers Conference & Exhibition in Brisbane from 26–29 May 2025.

Just click here

Under the theme ‘The Energy Edge | Innovation, Opportunity, Security’, the conference will set the platform for the essential discussions, debates, and knowledge sharing to explore the challenges…
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Barossa on-track

29/01/2025 Posted by Matthew.Quinn

Santos announced in it’s fourth quarter report, that the Barossa project is 88.3% complete and still on track for first production in 2025. The second and third wells of the six-well program have been completed with good results, both the fourth and fifth wells have been spudded.

The project consists of up to eight subsea wells and a subsea production system bringing gas and condensate to an FPSO. Water, gas and condensate will be separated at the FPSO with gas transported via an approximately 300km pipeline to Darwin. Condensate is to…
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Dorado Deferred

29/01/2025 Posted by Matthew.Quinn

On 21 January 2025, Carnarvon Energy announced that the Santos operated Dorado Phase 1 liquids development will not enter FEED and hence the previous target of FID in 2025 will be deferred.

The Dorado Joint Venture of Santos (80% and operator), Carnarvon (10%) and CPC (10%) are continuing to review the timeline for the project with additional exploration wells within the permit planned for 2026.

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Moving in the Wrong Direction: Flaring Emissions on the Rise, ‘Reversing a Positive Trend’

22/01/2025 Posted by Dale

Flaring emissions from global upstream oil and gas production activity increased by 7% from 2022 to 2023, according to latest Rystad Energy research. Upstream activities emit about 1 gigatonne per year of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in total, with flaring contributing around 30% of those emissions in 2023 assuming 98% flaring efficiency on average. Flaring reduction is considered a low-hanging fruit for oil and gas companies trying to reduce their carbon footprint. However, this recent uptick underscores the challenges facing the industry, particularly in key producing countries such as Russia, Iran and Iraq.