Beach Energy (Operations) Limited (Beach), who are wholly owned by Beach Energy Limited , on behalf of their Joint Venture partners, proposes to undertake geophysical and geotechnical seabed surveys within the Otway and Bass Basins in Commonwealth waters. The seabed surveys are required to inform future plug and abandonment activities of existing legacy suspended wells, drilling of subsea gas wells and potential tie-ins to connect new gas wells to existing subsea infrastructure. These future activities are outside the scope of this EP.

The proposed seabed surveys will be carried out no earlier than the 1st February 2024 and no later than the 31st December 2028. The seabed surveys are estimated to take up to 200 days for the Otway Operational Area A, 40 days for Otway Operational Area B and 120 days for Bass Operational Area. The seabed surveys may be done in one campaign or as a number of campaigns.

Geophysical survey methods proposed are:
• Multi beam echo sounder (MBES)
• Side scan sonar (SSS)
• Sub bottom profiler (SBP)
• Magnetometer

Geotechnical sampling proposed are:
• Cone penetrometer testing (CPT)
• Drop coring or vibrocore

In addition, seabed imagery, and sediment and water samples will be undertaken at representative locations to collect baseline data.

Seismic surveys are not included in the activity scope.