Santos makes Australasia progress

New discovery bolsters frontier WA basin’s prospects, while a PNG project also inches forward

ASX-listed Santos has made another “significant oil discovery” near its Dorado development off the coast of Western Australia (WA), which should further improve the viability of the Bedout basin for wider development. And it has also advanced a previously stalled Papua New Guinea (PNG) gas project, albeit the lead time for its realisation still looks concerningly long in an energy transition world. The Australian independent found success with its Pavo-1 exploration well, which is located around 46km east of the Dorado field. Santos says the new discovery is “similar” and “de-risks” the ongoing Dorado development. Pavo-1’s 2C resource is assessed at 43mn bl. The operator expects Pavo-1 “to s