The Sydney-based explorer has interests in three Cooper Basin permits (PELs 91, 106, 107) along with one permit in the Otway Basin (EP 27) and three in the Bass Strait (VicP63, P64, T/46P).
Speaking at the Excellence in Upstream Energy conference in Sydney yesterday afternoon, Carroll said the company was seeing huge potential in its upcoming Cooper Basin drilling program.
“The Cooper Basin is going to keep us busy for many years to come,” he said.
“We see significant upside here this year where we plan to be drilling at least six wells. Any one discovery has the potential to either double or triple our share price.”
The locations of these wells will be determined by the 3D Spinel 3D seismic survey, which covered an area of about 500 square kilometres in portions of PELs 106 and 91 – the largest 3D seismic exploration program ever undertaken in this region of the Cooper Basin.
Great Artesian expects processing and interpretation of the data to take another three to six months.
But the Cooper Basin drilling program is only the tip of the iceberg for Great Artesian, according to Carroll.
The company is also in an “excellent” position in the Otway and Gippsland basins, where it can expect to reap the rewards in the medium to longer term, he said.
“Some prospects in our Otway Basin permit [operated by Oilex] has 200 million barrel potential,” he said.
“Success here would add dollars to our share price, rather than cents.
“Meanwhile, we also have a huge acreage holding in the southern extent of the Gippsland Basin, which is virtually unexplored. These offshore permits have huge company-maker potential – the [hydrocarbon] potential is really enormous.”
Carroll said the company planned to continue farming out interests in its permits to manage costs, a strategy it managed to achieve through its “first-mover” advantage.
“We were the first company into the western Cooper Basin and the first to go into the southern Bass Strait,” he said.
“We can operate and drill our own wells – we’re not dependent on other companies to do that for us.”
The company now claims to hold the most offshore exploration acreage in the Gippsland Basin, after winning two new permits VIC/P63 and VIC/P64, which it said complements its recently awarded T/46P permit, a large block in the adjacent Tasmanian waters.
