The program, for which it is seeking environmental approval from the National Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority, will include up to three wells, potentially with the first to spud before the end of the year.
The drilling campaign could start as early as December 1 and is expected to be completed within 18 months.
The wells will be drilled and tested, possibly with vertical seismic profiling, before being plugged and abandoned.
Water depths are between 120-350m in the area, so ConocoPhillips will charter a semisubmersible rig to complete the drilling.
NOPSEMA is expected to make its decision within a month.
The drilling application follows the grant of permits to shoot new 3D seismic over the Barossa and Caldita fields.
The 3186sq.km Caldita‐Barossa 3D survey over two Bonaparte Basin leases RL5 and RL6 will also cover some open acreage.
Barossa is considered a frontrunner for gas to backfill the Darwin LNG plant when it runs short of supply next decade.
ConocoPhillips controls Barossa with SK Energy (37.5%) and Santos (25%).
There are already seven wells in the Barossa field, with the new wells being Barossa-5, Barossa-6 West and Barossa-6 East, upgraded from two previously flagged wells.
The wells will be drilled to depths of 4400m below sea level
Exploration of the fields dates back to the mid-1960s. ConocoPhillips joined Santos in the exploration permits in 2004 and the presence of a significant accumulation of natural gas was confirmed in 2006.
The most recent appraisal campaign involved the drilling of three wells in 2014-15.
The results from two wells were in line with expectations, with one well in the higher end of the expected range.
Thorough interpretation of those results during 2015 informed the need for further appraisal.
ConocoPhillips operates the Bayu-Undan gas-condensate field in the Timor Sea, Darwin LNG facility in the Northern Territory and the downstream LNG facility of Australia Pacific LNG.
ConocoPhillips is working on extending the life of the Darwin LNG plant, with gas reserves from the Bayu-Undan field expected to be depleted by 2023.
The 3.7 million tonne per annum plant could take gas from the Caldita-Barossa or Poseidon fields in the Browse Basin - but a sticking point remains the high cost of development, even if the gas will simply backfill the existing plant.
The company is looking at a $US15 billion ($A21 billion) price tag for either option, with development of Greater Poseidon further away, requiring an Ichthys-style pipeline stretching over 900km.
Caldita-Barossa could be developed by piggy-backing off Bayu-Undan, and would require only a 250km pipeline to connect to the existing Bayu-Undan pipeline.
The final project could potentially enter front-end engineering and design in 2017.
