Australian firm on the lookout for partners ahead of oil & gas drilling and development ops

July 29, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

West Perth-headquartered IPB Petroleum is seeking partners to secure funding for future hydrocarbon drilling and oil and gas development activities across its exploration permit in the Browse Basin off the coast of Western Australia.

Location map of IPB's exploration permit WA-424-P in the Browse Basin; Source: IPB

Given its interest in unlocking the potential of the exploration permit WA-424-P, IPB Petroleum is attempting to move forward with the monetization of the asset through potential development of the Gwydion oil discovery and the drilling of the Idris exploration prospect, which remains the firm’s key objective.

As the company received confirmation on April 2, 2025, from the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) of a two-year extension to the application period for a retention lease or production license over the Gwydion declared location within WA-424-P, this extension now expires on April 16, 2027.

As a result, IPB claims that this provides additional time to fully assess and progress the commercialization potential of the Gwydion discovery, including its integration into a broader development concept with Idris.

“The company continues to assess a range of high-impact oil and gas opportunities that have the potential to complement its existing asset base and deliver additional value to shareholders. During the quarter, a number of projects were reviewed, with due diligence currently underway on several potentially suitable opportunities,” highlighted the Australian player.

To this end, IPB submitted its Annual Title Assessment Report (ATAR) to NOPTA on July 18, 2025, for WA-424-P, per its regulatory obligations, giving NOPTA an annual summary of technical, financial, and operational activities undertaken within the permit area over the preceding 12 months.

The Western Australian player emphasized: “The two-year extension granted in April 2025 for the Gwydion location supports IPB’s strategy to assess and evaluate development options and pursue the most value-accretive path for shareholders.

“IPB remains committed to realising the potential of the WA-424-P permit and continues to evaluate funding options, strategic partnerships, and new project opportunities that can complement its existing asset base. This includes active engagement with industry participants to attract the capital necessary to support future drilling and development operations.”

The firm also continued active discussions with parties potentially interested in partnering on the WA424-P permit, with a focus on the drilling of the Idris exploration well and securing funding for the project.

In pursuit of its goals, the Australian company engaged with Pivotree under the existing memorandum of understanding (MoU) to assess commercial development concepts for the Gwydion discovery, and maintained dialogue with Titan Drilling concerning the potential use of the TS Jasper rig.

The Browse Basin is located north of Broome, offshore Western Australia, and covers an area of approximately 140,000 square kilometers. IPB’s 100%-owned WA-424-P permit contains three wells: Gwydion-1, Caspar-1A, and Pryderi-1. The first one was drilled by BHP Petroleum, now BHP Billiton Petroleum, in 1995.

Following a discovery of a 14.5-meter gas column in a poor-quality glauconitic sand above a 10-meter oil column in a good-quality Cretaceous-aged Hauterivian/Barremian clean sand, Caspar-1A, a sub-commercial gas discovery, was made in 1998 by BHP as a follow-up to the Gwydion-1 well.

IPM explained that the well intersected very good-quality reservoir sands 15 meters thick at the level that contained oil in the Gwydion-1 well, but these sands were water-wet. However, the firm believes that the presence of gas in the main Barremian/Hauterivian-aged reservoir sand generates a high amplitude (red) on the seismic data around the Gwydion-1 well.

Currently, the Australian player is working to realize its plans to farm out an interest in WA-424-P for the drilling of the Idris-1 appraisal well with the aim of testing the updip presence of the oil accumulation intersected in the Gwydion-1 well.