EOG Resources Australia Block WA-488 Pty Ltd (EOG) is the titleholder of permit WA-488-P, located in Commonwealth waters of the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf (JBG) off the northern Western Australian (WA) coastline.

EOG proposes to undertake geotechnical investigations within an activity area located approximately 77 km offshore from the nearest WA coastline and 87 km from the Northern Territory (NT) coastline. The activity is referred to as the Beehive Pre-Drill Geotechnical Assessment. The activity area covers an area of approximately 50.8 km2 and occurs in water depths ranging from 35 metres (m) to 50 m.

The purpose of the activity is to assess and characterise the seabed and sub-seabed conditions to support a jack-up Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) that will be used to drill the Beehive-1 exploration well, as well as provide data for potential future wellsite placement. The geotechnical investigations acquire physical measurements and samples of the local shallow geology at and around the potential MODU location(s), using the following techniques:

• Borehole sampling to acquire high quality soils for laboratory testing to inform the detailed engineering design in the field; and
• Piezo cone penetrometer testing to determine seabed strength and general ground stratigraphy.

Samples and data will be collected at up to 15 investigation sites within the activity area.

The activity is scheduled to be completed between January 2024 and December 2025, with the exact timing within this time window dependent on the receipt of environmental approvals, vessel/equipment availability and fair sea state conditions suitable for the activity. The activity is estimated to take up to 2 weeks in total to complete, although this is dependent on the exact methods and technologies used as well as weather conditions at the time.