Late 2027 FID Looms for Carnarvon Energy Dorado Oil Project
Carnarvon Energy said the carnarvon energy dorado oil project could reach a final investment decision in late 2027. The Western Australia offshore discovery remains a 344 million-barrel oil equivalent resource, with Santos holding 80% and Carnarvon 10%.
Philip Huizenga said the project has moved back to the top of Santos’ thinking. "Dorado has come right back to the top of Santos’ thinking. It’s an oil project at a time when there’s a need for energy security in Australia."
Western Australia stake split
Carnarvon Energy holds a 10% stake in Dorado, while Taiwan’s CPC owns the remaining 10% equity. Santos is the operator and majority holder, and the project was discovered in 2018. That ownership split leaves Santos with the clearest control over whether the late-2027 timetable holds.
The proposed first phase would produce oil and condensate through a floating production, storage and offloading vessel. A second phase would move to gas production to backfill Santos’ domestic gas infrastructure in Western Australia, linking the same field to two different cash flows and two different parts of the supply chain.
Three wells in 2027
Santos said the Bedout Basin will be appraised for scale with three wells in 2027. That work comes after years of delay on a project described as Australia’s largest undeveloped oil project, and it sits against a tighter fuel backdrop after Australia permanently closed five of its seven refineries since 2013.
Australia relies on imports for most of its transportation fuel supply, which is why Dorado has re-entered the investment conversation. A project with 344 million barrels of oil equivalent is large enough to matter, but the 2027 appraisal still stands between that resource and a development decision.
For readers tracking the project, the practical marker is simple: late 2027 is now the window for a decision, not a commitment to build. If Santos completes the three-well appraisal on schedule, Dorado could move from a long-delayed discovery into a financed development plan; if it does not, the timetable slips with it.
