Australian Oil sees dry Emu Apple production open path to Surat Basin restarts

Emu Apple-1 Maintains Dry Oil Production

Australian Oil Company Limited (ASX:AOK) is using a 10-20 barrel-a-day result from Emu Apple-1 to consider a wider restart across its Surat Basin portfolio. The well remains on its existing pump-rate range while post-intervention clean-up continues, and the company says no water cut has been observed to date.

That result matters operationally as much as the headline production rate. Australian Oil says the dry-fluid profile should ease produced-fluid handling and pressure on evaporation pond capacity, while fluid levels remain significantly above the pump intake. The company is still monitoring pump rates, produced fluids and tank levels rather than providing a firm production forecast, with the next crude lifting anticipated within the next fortnight.

Higher Oil Prices Reopen Well Restart Options

With Brent recently approaching US$100 a barrel, Australian Oil is assessing whether to recommence Emu Apple-2 and Emu Apple-3, alongside planned restart work at Riverslea-1 and Riverslea-3. Additional lightweight hydraulic pumping units have been sourced for potential deployment at both fields; their ability to move without concrete foundations could reduce installation time and civil works, although the company has not disclosed a restart timetable or expected output.

At PL 30, which contains the Riverslea and Yapunyah fields, final assays for Riverslea crude are being completed to support offtake arrangements. The company plans to mobilise spare load-out and pump infrastructure from Emu Apple to Riverslea after Emu Apple-1 clean-up and the next oil lifting, making the timing of that work an immediate operational marker.

Greater Riverslea Prospects Move Up the List

Australian Oil has also prioritised prospective resource work across Greater Riverslea, citing the stronger oil-price environment and the proximity of preliminary mapped prospects to existing infrastructure. The work will combine geological, geophysical and production data to mature prospects and leads, but the announcement provides no resource estimate or drilling commitment.

Gas Output and Major-4 Commercialisation Progress

Gas operations provide a second near-term strand to the update. Reclamation Board-7 and Reclamation Board-8 have returned to production after maintenance and are flowing at a combined rate of about 350 Mcf a day. Routing through the PEOCO-owned compressor is expected to lift that combined rate towards approximately 500 Mcf a day, subject to the planned connection.

At Major-4, Australian Oil is progressing a raw gas sale agreement, with metering, shutdown valves and communications still being negotiated. Wellhead pressure is reported at 1,000 psi, while work on wellhead de-foamers and shutdown valves continues. In California, gas prices were consistently above US$3.70 at Citygate during the last week of August, supporting the commercial case for optimisation but not guaranteeing the outcome of any sale or connection.

International Concessions Remain Unresolved

The company says it is negotiating with regulators in two separate jurisdictions over international exploration concessions. Those discussions are described only at a high level, with no locations, transaction terms or award decisions disclosed. For now, the investable evidence sits closer to home: Emu Apple-1 is producing, several restarts are being assessed, and the next steps depend on clean-up performance, crude assays, infrastructure work and signed gas offtake arrangements.