Carnarvon Energy has contracted the Transocean Equinox semi-submersible rig for a multi-well drilling campaign offshore Western Australia, with operations planned to begin from April 2027.
The campaign will focus on the Bedout Sub-basin and is intended to assess the resource potential of major prospects in Carnarvon Energy’s exploration portfolio, including Ara, Yuma, Goats Eye and Hutton.
The Transocean Equinox was selected after a rig tender process that began in early 2025. The rig is currently working on a multi-well exploration program offshore Victoria and is expected to become available early next year.
The program includes one firm well and one contingent well within Carnarvon Energy’s exploration permits. If both wells proceed, the company expects its share of the cost to be about $14.3 million, or A$20 million. The work will be funded from Carnarvon Energy’s cash balance of $70.2 million, or A$98 million, recorded on 31 March 2026.
Chief Executive Officer Philip Huizenga said the rig contract is an important step in the company’s return to drilling in 2027. He said Carnarvon Energy expects to drill at least one high-impact well, with the potential for a second well next year.
Huizenga also pointed to the company’s 67% drilling success rate when using recent high-quality 3D seismic data. He said the campaign would help evaluate the Bedout Sub-basin further, including areas north of earlier discoveries and previously untested play types.
Santos operates the Bedout permits. Carnarvon Energy holds interests of 10% to 20% across the licences targeted by the campaign.
The drilling program marks Carnarvon Energy’s planned return to exploration drilling in the Bedout Sub-basin, where earlier discoveries have helped establish the basin as an emerging offshore exploration area.
