Carnarvon fuels growth through innovation, strategic partnerships

With a strategy anchored in innovative thinking and a strong entrepreneurial spirit, junior resource company Carnarvon Petroleum navigates through the changing market trends in the upstream oil and gas industry. In operation since the 1980s, Perth-based Carnarvon retains producing oil and gas interests in Thailand and holds highly prospective offshore exploration interests in the North West Shelf (NWS), off the coast of Western Australia.

"We rely on our comprehensive geological knowledge and experienced personnel to identify and quickly move on undervalued, high-impact assets," says Adrian Cook, managing director. "We have to be fleet-footed to stay one step ahead of the oil majors."

Together with oilfield operator Hong Kong and China Gas (Towngas), Carnarvon has started revitalising production at the L44/43 and L33/43 concessions located within Thailand's Phetchabun Basin. After taking the reins in mid-2012, Towngas launched a drilling campaign that led to the discovery of additional sandstone reserves.

Relying on state-of-the-art 3D seismic mapping techniques, Carnarvon opened a new growth region in the NWS. The area includes the Phoenix South prospect - heralded by industry observers as a potential "company maker" because of its multiple trillion cubic feet of gas potential.

"We look forward to spudding the Phoenix South-1 well with our partners Apache, JX Nippon and Finder Exploration," Cook says. "The well has the potential to unlock the 28,000 square kilometres of acreage that we hold in the area."

The Phoenix South prospect is located on the border of NWS permits WA-435-P and WA-437-P, which were farmed out to energy majors Apache and JX Nippon. Work on the prospects is expected to amplify the development potential of the company's adjoining WA-436-P, WA-438-P and WA-443-P permits.