Woodside Petroleum Finds More Gas Off WA Coast, In Toro-1 Well

Toro-1 Well

Woodside Petroleum Toro-1 exploration well, in the Mungaroo Formation, just over 80km off Western Australia’s coast, in the Exmouth Sub-Basin, drilled down to 3724 metres to find around 150 metres gross gas, 65 metres net.

Woodside said wireline logging confirmed the presence of a gas column through pressure measurements and gas sampling. The well, operating under Western Australian permit WA-430-P, will now be plugged and abandoned as planned. The permit is 70% owned by Woodside, with the remaining 30% owned by Mitsui E&P Australia.

Toro is located in Western Australia’s Exmouth Sub-Basin and is within 22km of Woodside’s existing Ragnar-1A discovery.

Woodside Petroleum Expansion

Woodside Executive Vice President Global Exploration Philip Loader spoke about the company’s increasing gas volume.

“This successful exploration outcome builds Woodside’s gas volumes within the Exmouth Sub-Basin creating options for maximising the value of our Australian assets.” – Philip Loader, Woodside EVP Global Exploration

Woodside needs to discover more such wells, to make the site viable. In 2012, the Ragnar-1A well, about 22km to the northeast of Toro-1 was discovered and plugged. The area needs to yield much more gas, because an expensive undersea pipeline would need to be laid, to move the gas from this field into the Pluto project.

This work was in 2014, and in 2024, with new CEO Meg O’Neill, Woodside sold a 10% stake in its Scarborough Joint Venture to LJ Scarborough Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of LNG Japan, for a US$910 million. This was a new energy opportunity collaboration between the two entities. O’Neill called the sale a pivotal achievement, underscoring LNG Japan’s commitment to securing gas as a cornerstone for energy transition.