ICN put out expressions of interest to industry asking for specific examples of where they had provided work in Western Australia and any dealings with BP in South Australia before the UK oiler ditched its own GAB campaign last year.

 

ICN had earlier published questionnaires asking companies to demonstrate their capability to meet the needs of what Chevron is looking for, such as well construction and associated services.

 

Among the skills needed were casting and tubing running, coring, coiled tubing, drilling pipe inspections, fluids and rental tools, fishing tools and services, line hangers, filtration, mud logging, open and cased hole electric line logging, remotely operated underwater vehicles, slickline, survey and positioning, abandonment, wellbore clean-up tools and services, sub-assembly workshop/storage and tubing conveyed perforating.

 

ICN WA was handling the information flow, though some specific enquiries have gone to ICN SA before being referred onto the Perth branch.

 

Chevron is now considering Tier 1 contractors, with Tier 2 and Tier 3 consideration to follow.

 

It is understood Chevron and BP were interested in talking to each other about the supply base in Port Adelaide in which the UK oiler invested $8 million before pulling out of the exploration campaign having been knocked back twice by the offshore regulator.

 

The base, opened in March last year, was built for BP's now canned $600 million deep-sea drilling operation off the SA coast, and is operated by international oilfield support service ASCO and Flinders Logistics.

 

It was mean to provide work for up to 18 staff and supply materials to the proposed rig, Diamond Offshore's Ocean GreatWhite.

 

Upwards of 1000 companies had registered their interest in participating in BP's project.

 

Chevron Australia exploration general manager David Moffat told the Environmental and Communications References Committee into oil or gas production in the Great Australian Bight last November that the oiler was in talks with the regulator to start exploration drilling next year.

 

Moffat said two seasons of seismic surveys, which were the largest surveys ever undertaken in Australia, have given "early but promising evidence that the Bight represents a tremendous opportunity for Australia and South Australia in particular, of a scale possibly akin to Bass Strait or the North West Shelf".

 

"Our next step is to drill to determine the extent and nature of the potential resource," he added.

 

He said Chevron was scheduled to spud the first of four exploration wells in late 2017 at the earliest, and has started its environment plan with preliminary engagement with some government and community stakeholders already underway at that time.

 

Citing Chevron's extensive experience in deepwater exploration, drilling in extreme conditions and remote locations, Moffat noted that the California-headquartered oiler was the first operator allowed to resume drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after the 2010 Macondo incident and recently drilled wells in deepwater far offshore of Newfoundland, which is analogous to the Bight.

 

He said that since its first year of deepwater exploration in 1987, Chevron has drilled more than 80 wells off WA without a single loss of well control incident.

 

"Of the 33 wells we have drilled in Australia since NOPSEMA's commencement in 2012, we have drilled 19 wells in deep water at water depths greater than 1000m," he said.

 

Chevron acquired its two deepwater exploration permits - EPP44 and EPP45 - in Commonwealth marine waters in October 2013

 

The blocks span more than 32,000sq.km and nearly doubled Chevron's offshore acreage holding in Australia.