Chevron Australia (WA-383-P) Pty Ltd was awarded retention lease WA-89-R, located in the Investigator Sub-basin, North Carnarvon Basin, on 26 July 2018.Â  The lease has been granted over the Blake gas discovery for a period of five years and it will expire, or be eligible for renewal, on 25 July 2023.  Work commitments have been assigned for the duration of the permitâs validity and include seismic interpretation of the reprocessed Honeycombs 3D seismic data, which was acquired in 2012 by PGS, and static reservoir modelling.  The Blake gas discovery was made 2014. Given the remote location of the field (approximately 230 km from Exmouth), the estimated resources are perhaps not large enough to support a standalone development. In the fifth and final term of the lease, Chevron plans to review of commercial development schemes such as pipeline ullage, floating LNG and tie-back options.   Within a 50 km radius of the Blake discovery lays around 12 Tcf of undeveloped resources, including the Scarborough and Nimblefoot fields. Within a 75 km radius, this extends to the entire Equus project fields, and totals around 15 Tcf of undeveloped resources with only three operators: Chevron, Woodside and Western Gas.  WA-89-R covers an area of 563 sq km and has been awarded from exploration permit WA-383-P. The exploration permit has been reduced in area from 1,607 to 1,044 sq km and no longer covers any discoveries but could remain prospective, laying between Scarborough and the Western Gas operated Equus project fields. In October 2017, WA-83-R was also awarded over the Pinhoe gas discovery.  WA-89-R was awarded on 26 July 2018. Participants in the licence are: Chevron Australia (WA-383-P) Pty Ltd (50% + Operator) and Shell Australia Pty Ltd (50%).
Chevron Australia (WA-383-P) Pty Ltd was awarded retention lease WA-89-R, located in the Investigator Sub-basin, North Carnarvon Basin,