CONOCOPhillips plans to drill up to six exploratory gas wells in the Otway Basin, 20 kilometres off the coast of Victoria and 33 kilometres from King Island, Tasmania.
The project has been approved by Australia’s offshore regulator NOPSEMA in spite of concerns from local environment campaigners who say the drilling could be as close as one kilometre from a protected marine park.
The Otway Exploration Drilling Program involves seabed surveys at up to a maximum of nine locations and drilling up to a maximum of six exploration wells in water depths ranging from 53 metres to 200 metres.
ConocoPhillips lodged its submission with NOPSEMA in November 2023 and was approved on 28 February, 2025, with drilling expected to start in April.
The NOPSEMA approval document says seabed surveys and drilling operations will be conducted 24 hours per day, seven days per week. A 500-metre safe navigation area will be established around the seabed survey vessels and any towed equipment.
It said seabed surveys are expected to take no more than one week at each location and will be conducted by one to two vessels. “During drilling, a 500-metre radius petroleum safety zone and two-kilometre radius cautionary zone will be established around each well. Drilling will take typically 30 to 40 days, but no more than 90 days at each location, with the mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) supported by up to three vessels to transport equipment and provide for standby. Helicopters will support crew changes several times per week.”
