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Amplitude Energy (ASX:AEL) is walking away from its Isabella gas discovery and will be plugging and abandoning the Offshore Otway Basin well after bringing in results that “do not support a commercial development.”
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The Australian gas company’s Isabella field, which sits in the VIC/L24 permit, was originally drilled as a sidetrack for Elanora-1. While the ST-1 hole intersected gas in early March, follow-up testing revealed several limitations.
Amplitude ran a 22-hour flow test and a 24-hour pressure build-up test to estimate resource volumes. Those tests showed an ~11-metre gross pay thickness, with a peak surface-constrained flow rate of 60 MMscf/day achieved. The biggest issue, Amplitude says, was the pressure depletion it spotted.
“Pressure depletion during the testing period does not support a commercial development of the Isabella field in the present location,” Amplitude wrote in an update today. “The well will now be plugged and abandoned.”
“The result at Isabella is disappointing, but geological data from this well will help inform our future exploration prospects,” Amplitude MD Jane Norman declared.
Ms Norman continued: “Isabella was a large and prospective target for the ECSP; its size also corresponded with reservoir complexity, meaning it would require time to interpret the drilling information received.”
By and large, Isabella’s failure has done little to slow the company’s CY26 plans. Amplitude today confirmed the broader ECSP remains on schedule, maintaining its target for first gas in CY2028 and reported that the project’s wider drilling programme continues to operate within established budget.
“The result at Isabella does not impact our view on the… success of other Otway Basin prospects, which have simpler geology,” Ms Norman said.
A Final Investment Decision (FID) for the ECSP development phase has been deferred slightly, though. This decision will now follow drilling at subsequent wells, which are scheduled for the second half of CY2026.
AEL shares head into Wednesday trade at $2.67.
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