Omega announced to the market in May that civil works for well-pad preparation had commenced for the first wells in their 2026/27 drilling program on the oil and gas-bearing eastern flank of the Taroom Trough. The wells are planned within their Canyon Project (PCAs 342 and 343, OMA 100%) and ATP 2081 (OMA 45%, Operator) in Queensland’s Taroom Trough.
The company advises the program is due to commence around the end of June 2026, following completion of preceding wells by another operator.
On 15th May, Australia Oil Co announced their recent development and exploration activities in the Surat Basin to the market with production, development and exploration all underway.
Maiden oil lifting of 422 barrels by IOR from the Emu Apple Oil Field at the end of March, with the next lifting scheduled to occur around mid May. Production levels are advised to consistent with expectations of approximately 15 barrels of oil per day and 30% water cut.
Plans to acidize Emu Apple 1 and wash with condensate to improve production rates are underway, whilst the company is also...
Our AEP 2026 peer-reviewed paper - Understanding exploration success and failure in the Cooper and Eromanga Basins, South Australia - presents an integrated analysis of open-file well, production, and licensing data to understand the drivers of exploration success and failure. Some 800 exploration wells (Figure 1) have resulted in production of approximately 260 million barrels of oil and 8 trillion cubic feet of raw gas, confirming the basins’ status as a significant onshore petroleum province.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).