ConocoPhillips issues buyout notice for 3D Energi’s VIC/P79 stake

ConocoPhillips Australia has issued a buyout announcement to 3D Energi relating to the latter’s 20% involvement successful offshore exploration licence VIC/P79 successful Victoria’s Otway Basin, pursuing earlier notifications concerning alleged defaults.

3D Energi, formerly known arsenic 3D Oil, said it is assessing the validity of some the default and buyout notices.

The announcement initiates a process nether the associated operating statement that tin let ConocoPhillips, arsenic the relation of VIC/P79, to get 3D Energi’s involvement astatine a just marketplace value, to beryllium determined.

Once that worth is established, ConocoPhillips has 30 days to elite whether to proceed with the purchase.

If ConocoPhillips does not workout the buyout right, the statement provides for different remedies. These see imaginable dilution of 3D Energi’s stake, with provisions disposable to some ConocoPhillips and Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC).

ConocoPhillips presently has a 51% stake, portion KNOC owns a 29% involvement successful the block.

VIC/P79 covers astir 2,575km² successful the shallow waters of the Otway Basin, with h2o depths ranging from astir 40m successful the northbound to astir 100–200m successful the south.

The licence is adjacent discovered state fields including La Bella and producing developments on the Pecten High trend, which are linked by pipeline to the Athena state works operated by Cooper Energy.

3D Energi obtained the licence done the 2020 Gazettal circular and aboriginal farmed down its presumption to ConocoPhillips.

The transaction was completed successful March 2023 aft the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Authority approved the transportation of rubric documentation, leaving ConocoPhillips with an 80% participating involvement and operatorship.

Under the farmout terms, 3D Energi received $3m (A$4.22m) and ConocoPhillips agreed to money up to $35m towards drilling costs for an exploration well. ConocoPhillips offloaded 29% of its involvement to KNOC successful May 2025.

The archetypal enactment programme for the VIC/P79 licence included reprocessing 630km² of 3D seismic information and drilling 1 exploration good by February 2025.

On the exploration front, successful November 2025, ConocoPhillips reported that the Essington-1 good encountered state indications successful 2 people reservoirs, Waarre A and Waarre C.

Early mentation of logging and wireline information indicated that the main Waarre A interval contains an estimated 62.6m of gross hydrocarbon-bearing section, portion the Waarre C interval adds a further best-estimate gross file of astir 33.2m.

The find lies astir 53km disconnected the seashore adjacent Port Campbell, Victoria, and astir 12km from established producing state wells.