Latest News

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.

WA acreage release nominations now open

04/06/2026 Posted by Rachel

May 28th saw WA Mines and Petroleum Minister, David Michael, open nominations for Western Australia’s 2026 acreage release, inviting industry to put forward areas for petroleum and greenhouse gas storage exploration.

For the first time, the program includes regulated substances such as hydrogen and helium, as well as potential greenhouse gas storage locations, expanding the acreage release to include these emerging industries. The changes take effect from 28 May 2026 under the Petroleum Legislation Amendment Act 2024, modernising the State’s regulatory framework and providing new titling pathways.

They also cover activities for the transport and permanent injection of carbon dioxide once a storage site is declared.

True Stratigraphic Thickness – Where and Why It Matters

04/06/2026 Posted by Rachel

Prepared for PESA by Lawrence Grant-Woolley, Senior Geologist at Todd Energy

Lawrence Grant-Woolley is a development geologist with more than 27 years petroleum geology experience working offshore and onshore with clastic and carbonate reservoirs. Currently working as a Senior Geologist at Todd Energy, his career has spanned the globe with time spent working in Aberdeen, Oman, Jakarta and Adelaide. This article was inspired by a recent presentation given at a TNav Technology Summit in Brisbane.

In recent years I have worked steeply dipping complex structured fields. Review of existing models and correlations reinforced the need for True Stratigraphic Thickness (TST).

2026 Barry Goldstein Award Winner – Ken McClay

01/06/2026 Posted by Janny

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.

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.