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).
Industry News
International Geological Congress 2028
The International Geological Congress (IGC) 2028 marks the 38th outing for this quadrennial event. Since its establishment in 1878, the IGC has served as a unique platform for international collaboration, networking, scientific exchange, and strategic dialogue within the geosciences. Recognised as the premier global forum for advancing Earth sciences, each Congress, convened under the auspices of the IUGS, offers an essential platform for deliberating urgent global geological issues and shaping the future of the geosciences. It is one of the world's largest gatherings of geoscience professionals, with this event expecting an estimated 10,000 delegates from across the global geoscience community.
The...
H3 Energy Commence Assessment of Helium Potential at Milford & Milford East
24 March 2026
H3 Energy Limited (H3E) has announced they are commencing a targeted technical assessment across their flagship Alinya Project in South Australias’s Officer Basin. The program is aimed at better understanding the gas composition potential of key structures, including Milford and Milford East.
This assessment will involve a detailed review of existing geological and geophysical data to better understand the potential of the region to host a large-scale gas system, including higher-value gas components.
Geoscience Australia Launch New 10-Year Strategy
24 March 2026
Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Madeleine King has launched a new 10-year strategy for trusted geoscientific agency Geoscience Australia as the organisation celebrates its 25th anniversary and 80 years of geological and geophysical science in Australia.
Back in 1946, Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley created the Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics to support and invigorate Australia’s post war mining industries.
Geoscience Australia was launched in 2001, taking over that work and combining it with mapping, positioning and satellite data services.
“Geoscience Australia and its predecessors have underpinned our nation’s prosperity for decades, ensuring we have a prosperous economy and as well as unlocking resources that drive local jobs,” Minister King said.
Viridien announces strategic initiative to advance HPC for seismic imaging workflows with NVIDIA
Paris, France – February 18, 2026
Viridien, an advanced technology and digital solutions company, has announced a collaboration with NVIDIA to transform seismic imaging workflows by leveraging NVIDIA HPC platforms and Viridien’s expertise in Subsurface Imaging technologies and HPC & Cloud Solutions.
The collaboration will focus on optimizing Viridien’s seismic imaging algorithms on NVIDIA accelerated computing platforms, including the integration of advanced techniques such as tensor cores and mixed-precision computing.
Cooper-Eromanga Basin: New Exploration Areas Awarded
On January 29, the Queensland Government announced the appointment of Santos QNT Pty Ltd and Drillsearch Energy Pty Ltd (a 100% subsidiary of Beach Energy) as preferred tenderers for three new gas exploration areas in the Cooper-Eromanga Basins, aimed at boosting supply, reducing energy prices, and supporting regional jobs.
Both Santos and Drillsearch (Beach) have a strong track record of exploration and delivery in the Cooper-Eromanga Basins. Santos holds a dominant and long-standing tenure position in the basin operating the South Australian Cooper Basin Joint Venture (SACBJV) with partners Beach Energy.
Offshore Otway Basin Federal offshore acreage release, NOPTA guidance note revisions and NOPIMS changes
With the long awaited offshore Otway Basin drilling campaign finally underway, the Federal Minister for Resources the Hon Madeleine King announced on 11 December 2025 the release of five areas for work program bidding. Application bids on the five release areas is due 30 June 2026. A public consultation process in parallel is open until 6 February 2026. More on the acreage release and details on how to bid can be found at https://www.industry.gov.au/publications/2025-otway-offshore-petroleum-exploration-acreage-release
This petroleum exploration acreage release is the first since 2022 and the release of the Governments Future Gas Strategy in May 2024 .
MGPalaeo Honour Australia’s most famous Palynologists with Artwork at New Lab
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).
Dorado Deferred
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.
Moomba CCS Start-up
Beach Energy announced on 17 October the successful commissioning and start-up of the Moomba Carbon Capture and Storage project.
All facilities, including five injection wells, CO2 dehydration and CO2 pipelines have been brought to capacity. The project is targeting capture and storage of 1.7 million tonnes of CO2 per annum in depleted Strzelecki and Marabooka field reservoirs.
Final Investment Decision for the project was announced in November 2021 and 60% completion was reached in May 2023 with the arrival of the compressor and turbine.
Moomba CCS is the third CCS project in Australia and follows the Otway International Test Centre and the Gorgon CCS project.