Pilot Energy Limited (ASX: PGY) has officially launched a formal farmout process to attract joint venture partners for its extensive offshore exploration holdings in the North Perth Basin of Western Australia.
The company operates and holds 100 per cent ownership of the WA-481P permit, which spans 8,605 square kilometres, making it the largest offshore exploration permit in Australia.
This area contains proven gas and oil exploration fairways of the Perth Basin along WA’s Mid West coast.
To facilitate the farmout, Pilot Energy has established a dedicated data room and assigned resources, already receiving significant interest and requests for their farmout teaser from qualified parties.
The company is focused on securing high-quality partners with specific technical or commercial expertise to drill the Leander Gas Prospect.
This prospect holds an estimated 1.1 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas Prospective Resources (Mean) and presents potential for fast-track development, with the Kingia Sandstone target interval within Leander holding 536 billion cubic feet (BCF) of gas and a 31 per cent Probability of Success (PoS). The Leander Prospect overall offers stacked pay targets with PoS estimates between 24 per cent and 36 per cent.
Pilot Energy Managing Director Brad Lingo stated: “Due to the quality and extent of Pilot’s Perth Basin exploration holdings and their fast-track development potential to get direct access to the Western Australia domestic gas market, the company expects the farmout process to be competitive.
“We are very focused on bringing in partners that are focused on the near-term drilling of the Leander Prospect and bringing gas to market.”
The farmout opportunity aligns with Pilot’s recent acquisition of the remaining Cliff Head offshore and onshore production infrastructure and associated pipelines, enabling rapid development of any exploration successes.
This infrastructure provides a clear path from discovery to commercial development, potentially delivering significant gas resources to Western Australia’s domestic market amid growing demand.
Pilot Energy Chairman Greg Columbus added: “Pilot Energy Board has a very clear strategic focus on its unique set of assets including our ambition to farmout WA481 to the right JV partner.
“This process, to run over the next few months comes at a time the company expects to be concluding the entrants of significant offshore parties into the CCS project, demonstrating the world-class opportunities on our doorstep in Western Australia.
“Given the growing domestic need for gas to underpin the growth in renewables which exacerbated with delays in other gas projects, we think this opportunity that is drill ready can provide significant supply to the market with optionality of being carbon neutral via our CCS project.”
Pilot Energy is a junior oil and gas exploration and production company transitioning toward carbon management and clean energy projects such as hydrogen and ammonia production for export to the Asia-Pacific region.
The company plans to leverage its existing oil and gas operations and infrastructure to develop Australia’s first offshore CO2 Storage Project by converting the Cliff Head Oil Field and related facilities as part of the Mid West Clean Energy Project.
Currently, Pilot holds a 21.25 per cent interest in the Cliff Head Oil Field and infrastructure, expected to increase to 100 per cent upon completion of the acquisition of Triangle Energy’s share.
The WA-481P permit, fully owned by Pilot, offers a strategic platform for developing significant gas resources and complementary clean energy solutions.