• Block CO2019-E (PELA 679) located in SW Cooper Basin, South Australia
• Initial five-year term, with option to renew for a further two five-year terms
• Five oil prospects identified on 2D seismic

Vintage Energy has been successful in bidding for Block CO2019-E (PELA 679) (“Block E”) in the south west of the Cooper Basin in South Australia. Gazettal Block E forms one of five hydrocarbon exploration licence blocks released for competitive bidding by the South Australian Department of Energy and Mining (“DEM”) in 2019. Once an appropriate land access agreement is in place with the Dieri Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC and the State Government, Vintage will have a 100% interest in the permit with options to finance the firm work program through the potential introduction of a joint venture partner/s.

Block E has both Permian and Jurassic oil potential, with cumulative oil production of 4.5 MMbbl from two nearby fields, one of which is the Worrior Field immediately to the north east. The permit covers a total area of 393 km² and has primarily been targeted for oil exploration. Seismic data is limited with the majority being poor quality 2D, the exception being a small area of overflow 3D seismic that was undertaken over the Worrior oil field and Koree gas field.

The work program currently stands at Geological and Geophysical work, including basin modelling, petrophysics and a rock physics trending study, 100 km² of 3D seismic and a two-well commitment to be undertaken over the initial five year licence term. The first exploration well in the region was Pando-1 which was drilled in 1966 and tested for oil and gas within a large four-way closure. Despite suppressed Jurassic oil shows, the well was plugged and abandoned. Thirty-seven years later the significance of the oil shows resulted in Stuart Petroleum Ltd drilling the Worrior-1 wildcat, 750 metres to the south east of Pando-1. 50 km² of 3D seismic and ten development wells have resulted in production in excess of 4 MMbbl of oil to date from the Worrior oil field (Senex Energy 70%, Cooper Energy 30%), primarily from the McKinlay Member, Birkhead Formation and Hutton Sandstone.

Vintage has identified three Jurassic four-way closures and one Permian Patchawarra Formation stratigraphic play from the sparse 2D seismic it has accessed to date. The “morphology” of Basement-influenced Jurassic structures located updip and along trend of Permian stratigraphic hydrocarbons, is exactly analogous to Beach Energy Ltd’s prolific Western Flank play, where the Pennington Oil Field and ultimately the Bauer Field are updip of Permian stratigraphically trapped gas of the Udacha-Middleton Field.

Vintage Managing Director, Neil Gibbins, said 
“We are always looking to access permits with the right address, and Block CO2019-E (PELA 679) certainly fits this criteria. Located near the Worrior oil field, the block has genuine potential for oil migration and, in many ways, is similar geologically to the Western Flank of the Cooper Basin.

We have committed to drilling two exploration wells in the first five year term and will also undertake 100km² of critically important 3D seismic. The risk and expense of this work program will likely be shared through the introduction of a joint venture partner. Our technical team has already identified five potential oil targets from the existing low quality 2D seismic, so we would expect to identify further opportunities once 3D seismic has been acquired. We look forward to working with the local landowners and the Dieri Aboriginal Corporation to progress work in this highly prospective block.”

KeyFacts Energy: Vintage Energy Australia country profile