Environmentalists have long contested drilling in the Bight
Great Australian Bight closes for business
Santos joins the list of developers to withdraw from the region, deeming it too risky
The Great Australian Bight, once seen as a promising frontier deepwater exploration acreage, is effectively closed for business after the last deep-pocketed developers pulled out in July. Australian independent Santos announced in mid-July that its joint venture with US peer Murphy Oil had relinquished its 16,525km² exploration permit in the Bight. Santos owned 80pc of EPP43 and Murphy the remaining 20pc. They follow BP, Chevron and Norway’s Equinor in deeming the play too risky. The three firms abandoned their exploration plans for the Bight in 2016, 2017 and 2020 respectively. Environmental campaigners have long contested drilling in the Bight, which lies off the central and western portio
Also in this section
16 April 2025
Israel continues to strike new oil and gas concession agreements and gas exports continue to rise, but an overreliance on Egypt remains the big concern
15 April 2025
Loss of US shipments of key petrochemical feedstock could see Beijing look to Tehran with tariffs set to upend global LPG flows
15 April 2025
Australia’s East Coast Gas projections for a supply shortfall have been pushed further out, but the challenge to meet evolving gas demand and the shifting assumptions around the fundamentals remain just as stark
15 April 2025
Long-delayed prospects for onshore LNG production in Mozambique have improved thanks to US financing approval, but security challenges blight way ahead
