Woodside, Esso fishing for more catch in ‘fin-tastic’ Bass Strait
Woodside is supporting new opportunities in one of Australia’s most important offshore oil and gas regions, developing much-needed new gas supplies to Eastern Australia.
Our joint venture with Esso Australia Resources in the Bass Strait has taken Final Investment Decision, giving the green light to develop the Turrum Phase 3 project, which targets underdeveloped gas resources via five new wells in the Turrum and North Turrum gas fields.
The year 2024 represented a year of transformation for Bass Strait with the end of oil production and commencement of decommissioning the associated offshore and onshore facilities. But this does not mean the end for the basin, with FID taken earlier this year for two growth gas projects – Kipper Phase 1B and Turrum Phase 3.
Bass Strait Subsurface and Development Manager Clare Davies points to the strong technical work and collaboration between the Subsurface and Projects teams in Woodside and Esso which has provided the key to unlocking the opportunity’s feasibility.
"Turrum Phase 3 was identified following some great technical work from the combined Joint Venture (JV) team," Clare says. "They’ve used quality data and information in identifying these value-driven opportunities."
Clare noted that all the fields in the JV are named after fish – a trend that started from the early days of the JV exploration when enormous potential was realised.
“Those early explorers must have known what a prolific basin it would end up being, deciding on names of fish indigenous to the Strait for the naming convention of the fields – such as Perch, Barracouta, Snapper, Marlin and Wirrah.”
Technical teams used new 3D seismic data in the basin to create innovative ways to visualise the subsurface, identifying new drilling targets. As a result, four or five gas wells are scheduled to be drilled as part of Turrum Phase 3 later this year to continue to maximise development of the Turrum Field Reservoirs. Combined with Kipper 1B, Turrum Phase 3 is expected to add more than 100 PJ (Woodside equity interest) to the south-eastern Australian domestic gas market.
Bass Strait has been an oil and gas-producing heartland since gas was first discovered in the Barracouta Field in 1965 and oil in the Kingfish Field two years later. After gas production came on stream four years later, the Basin grew into a mainstay of gas supplies to Eastern Australia and continues this role today, well over half a century later.
In that time, more than 10 trillion cubic feet of gas and four billion barrels of oil have been produced.
The Gippsland Basin joint venture is a 50-50 joint venture between Esso Australia Resources and Woodside Energy (Bass Strait) and operated by Esso Australia. It is an interest Woodside inherited in the merger with BHP’s petroleum assets in 2021. Today the Bass Strait assets produce up to 700 Tj/d through two onshore gas processing plants.
Ben Thomas, Woodside Asset Manager Bass Strait, says: “It’s wonderful to see the continued growth and development of these world-class fields, even after the 60 years of production from the basin.”
Jody Mahoney, Woodside’s VP Bass Strait and Wheatstone, agrees.
“The Turrum Ph3 development will provide much-needed additional gas to the Australian East Coast gas market, keeping houses warm through winter and businesses running,” Jody notes.
