Macallum advances three Perth Basin prospects towards 2027 drilling

Three Prospects Enter Well Design

Macallum New Energy Limited (ASX:MNE) has started the engineering work needed to turn three sizeable but still untested Perth Basin prospects into potential drilling locations, appointing Aztech Well Construction to plan and design wells at Barberton Terrace Deep, Gadee East and Aberfeldy.

“Macallum New Energy is an oil and gas exploration company focused on the assessment and future development of its 100% owned exploration permits located in the onshore North…”

The company has also begun preparing the drilling Environmental Plan, Safety Management Systems and land access consultations. Those workstreams sit on the critical path for a possible maiden exploration programme in the second half of 2027, according to Macallum.

Farm-out Partner Still Determines the Campaign

The timing is deliberately running alongside the company’s farm-out process, rather than waiting for a joint venture to be signed. Macallum says multiple top-tier parties are active in discussions, with the process expected to continue until the end of 2026 and potentially longer if interest remains strong.

The arrangement gives the company a chance to keep technical and regulatory preparation moving, but it also leaves the drilling plan unresolved. A binding farm-out agreement is targeted for early 2027, after which Macallum expects to select the final well target or targets and reach a final investment decision in Q1. The company says that work would also position a new joint venture to secure a rig slot and order long-lead equipment.

That sequencing builds on the 2027 drilling programme previously outlined by Macallum, which involved seeking a partner to help fund potential wells. The latest announcement adds a concrete engineering and approvals timetable, but it does not amount to a firm drilling commitment.

Resource Scale Spans Gas and Oil Targets

Barberton Terrace Deep is the largest prospect in the current shortlist, with a 2U prospective resource of 1,090 petajoules of sales gas and a 29% geological chance of discovery. Macallum says the structure’s crest has been mapped about 250 metres shallower than previously interpreted, potentially reducing well depth, while three possible locations have been identified and land access has been signed for BTD-1.

Gadee East and Gadee West are separate fault-bounded structures targeting stacked Jurassic sands. Their combined mean prospective gas resource is 221 PJ, comprising 182 PJ at Gadee East and 39 PJ at Gadee West, with Gadee West also carrying a mean oil estimate of 15 million barrels. The company’s EP 494 seismic upgrade had previously lifted the combined Gadee estimate by 70% to 221 PJ.

Aberfeldy provides the portfolio’s clearest oil exposure, but its resource estimate must be read as two mutually exclusive outcomes. In the oil-bearing scenario, the best estimate is 34.28 million barrels of oil and 36 PJ of sales gas; in the gas-bearing scenario, the corresponding figures are 17.46 million barrels and 97 PJ. Neither scenario can be added to the other, and both remain undiscovered prospective resources rather than reserves.

Approvals and Funding Remain Key Tests

Macallum’s announcement advances the programme from prospect definition towards execution, but the central commercial dependency has not changed: final target selection, funding arrangements and drilling remain tied to the farm-out outcome. Regulatory approvals, land access, rig availability and long-lead procurement will add further gates before a well can be drilled.

For shareholders, the next meaningful evidence will be less about another resource estimate than about whether the farm-out process produces a binding partner and a funded, specific well plan. Until then, the three prospects offer scale and optionality, but no discovery or production outcome has been established.