Beach Energy (Operations) Limited (Beach) proposes to drill up to six development wells and abandon three existing subsea wells (and potentially unsuccessful development wells) in Commonwealth waters of the Otway Basin.

Prior to drilling the first well of the campaign (which will be either Thylacine North-1 or Thylacine West-1) in T/L2, it is planned that an Anchor Handling Tug Support (AHTS) vessel will pre-lay the anchors and mooring lines of the mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU); this is the scope of this EP and is referred to as the anchoring program (or the ‘petroleum activity’).

The closest point to shore for the anchoring program is approximately 66 km from Port Campbell off Victoria’s southwest coast. The anchoring activities will be in water depths ranging from approximately 100 m to 105 m. The operational area for the anchoring program has been defined as a 2 km radius around the TN-1 and TW-1 well site.

The Otway Development Drilling and Well Abandonment Program is planned to commence in Q1 or Q2 2020, with the anchoring program to be completed immediately prior to this. The anchoring program is expected to take up to one week.

At its maximum, it is likely that 1,728 m2 (0.1728 ha) of seabed will be disturbed, based on a maximum of 12 anchors and associated mooring chain.