Carnarvon Energy confirms rig booked for key offshore WA oil hunt

• Transocean Equinox contracted for 2027 Bedout drilling campaign
• One firm plus one contingent well in Carnarvon’s exploration permits
• Bedout exploration drilling campaign on track to commence from April 2027
• Testing one of Australia’s emerging offshore hydrocarbon targets

Carnarvon Energy (ASX:CVN) has contracted a specialist offshore drilling rig to test what is emerging as one of Australia’s key offshore oil and gas targets.

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The Transocean Equinox semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit will undertake a multi-well drilling campaign which includes wells in Carnarvon’s Bedout Sub-basin exploration permits.

The Bedout has attracted global attention with the Dorado discovery, one of Australia’s largest oil finds in recent decades.

The 2027 Bedout exploration campaign will target some of the largest prospects in Carnarvon’s exploration portfolio, with shortlisted prospects including Ara, Yuma, Goats Eye and Hutton, which were all defined on the Bedout MegaMerge 3D seismic survey.

CEO, Philip Huizenga, said the Transocean Equinox was selected after a comprehensive bid evaluation process which commenced in early 2025. The rig is currently engaged in a multi-well exploration drilling campaign off the coast of Victoria, which is expected to be completed by early next year.

The Bedout exploration campaign is on track to commence from April 2027, with one firm well in Carnarvon’s exploration permits and one contingent well.

If the firm and contingent wells are both drilled, the total expected cost to Carnarvon will be approximately $20 million, which would be funded from Carnarvon’s current cash balance of $98 million,

“We are very excited to have signed the contract for the Transocean Equinox, the critical step for the company to return to drilling in 2027,” Mr Huizenga said.

“The signing of the rig contract marks a significant milestone on our return to more regular drilling and we look forward to drilling at least one, and potentially two, high impact wells next year.

“With our track record and high success rate of 67% when drilling using the latest high-quality 3D seismic data, Carnarvon is confident that we will continue to open up the world- class Bedout Sub-basin, with an extension to the north of our previous finds, and in new previously un-tested play-types.”

The Bedout Sub-basin, offshore Western Australia, is one of Australia’s most exciting exploration regions with already discovered hydrocarbons with unrisked prospective resource estimates of nine trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas and 1.6 billion barrels of liquids.

CVN is down 3.85% to 12.5¢. Mkt cap $271.6M.

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