Esso Australia Commences Drilling at Gas Field in Gippsland Basin

Esso Australia, a subsidiary of U.S.-headquartered energy major ExxonMobil, has recently initiated drilling activities at a gas field situated in the Gippsland Basin in Australia.

The project, known as Kipper 1B, aims to extract additional gas reserves from the Gippsland Basin to support the domestic market leading up to winter 2026. The drilling operations have officially commenced, as shared in a social media update by ExxonMobil Australia.

ExxonMobil Australia Chair, Simon Younger, emphasized the significance of projects like Kipper 1B in meeting the country’s energy security requirements by providing new gas supply exclusively for Australia’s domestic consumption.

The drilling activities at the Kipper field will be carried out using the Valaris 107 jack-up rig, which will be utilized to drill and install a subsea well. Concurrently, substantial upgrades are scheduled for the West Tuna platform, as announced earlier this year.

The Valaris 107 rig, operational since 2006, boasts a maximum drilling depth of 30,000 feet and can accommodate up to 112 personnel. ExxonMobil has secured the rig until May 2026 at a daily rate of $163,000 under the current contract terms.

Kipper, a conventional gas field located off the coast of Victoria, has been in production since 2015, supplying gas, condensate, and LPG to the local Australian market.

Notably, ExxonMobil also holds assets in the Bass Strait project within the same basin. In a recent development, Woodside Energy, ExxonMobil’s partner in the project, is set to assume operatorship of Australia’s first major offshore oil and gas development.

Woodside and ExxonMobil Australia’s subsidiary Esso maintain a 50% participating interest in the Gippsland Basin Joint Venture (GBJV) and a 32.5% participating interest in the Kipper Unit Joint Venture (KUJV), with Mitsui holding the remaining 35% stake in the latter venture.