Pilot Energy Limited announced a material upgrade to the prospective gas resource for its offshore exploration permit WA-481-P. The Company holds a 100% operated interest in the 8,605km2 permit located in shallow waters offshore Western Australia, encompassing the Dunsborough oil field and Frankland gas field. WA-481-P is strategically positioned adjacent to the onshore Perth Basin oil and gas discoveries on the Beagle Ridge and Dandaragan Trough respectively. This discovery proved up the gas play potential of the now prolific gas reservoirs of the Kingia and High Cliff Formations.
These deeper formations were not recognised exploration targets at the time that Leader Reef-1 was drilled and as a result Diamond Shamrock stopped drilling without proceeding to test these now-recognised gas pay reservoirs. Following the 2023 technical study that identified a material gas fairway in the offshore part of the Perth Basin mirroring the Dandaragan Trough, Pilot's internal technical team and consultants have continued to mature the subsurface models, which has resulted in a further advancement and update of the Leander prospective gas resource. The upgrade follows re-mapping of reprocessed 2D seismic data and an extensive review of the offset well database from the onshore discoveries, which are now open-file - Waitsia, West Erregulla, Beharra Springs Deep and Lockyer gas fields.
The Leander gas prospect is located 15 km west of the existing Cliff Head oil platform and is the most mature target within WA-481-P. Pilot's internally assessed prospective resources for the Leander gas project has increased from 450 Bcf to 1,116 Bcf (mean estimate, recoverable). The Harrier and Hawk gas prospects lie immediately south of Leander and Hawk gas prospects lies immediately south of Leander and provide additional exploration targets.
