Georgina Energy, a helium, hydrogen and natural gas exploration and development company with strategic permits in Australia, confirms that civil engineering contractors on site have completed the required water well and will soon be commencing setting the conductor pipe for programmed Q3 Hussar drilling program. These works, including site and camp preparation, represent another key step forward in mobilisation of the contracted Ensign 970 drill rig to site.
Highlights
- The spud date in September 2026 remains on target.
- The water well has been completed with a consistent flow rate of between 250,000 to 350,000 litres per day for the rig water supply. This will be used for drilling fluid makeup water with a proportion being purified with Reverse Osmosis treatment for ablutions and cooking.
- The water well drill rig will now move closer to the centre of the drilling pad and drill and set the 20 inch conductor pipe before the Ensign Rig 970 arrives on site.
- The civil engineers have advanced site works including excavation of the Turkey's Nest (a water storage pond) and the sump to contain drill cuttings and any excess drilling fluid. The waterproof linings have also been completed.
- Rolling and compacting of the drilling and camp pads has also commenced.
- Site grading and trimming have been completed.
- Gravel has been delivered and graded at the camp pad, with further gravel carted to the road and graded. Additional gravel supplies are also in place.
With over 300 km² of areal closure, the Hussar prospect ranks among the largest subsalt helium, hydrogen and hydrocarbon prospects onshore Australia that remains untested.
Turkeys Nest left, cuttings sump right and waterwell drilling rig
Aerial view of the camp pad for accommodation, ablutions and cooking
The Hussar EP513 prospect re-entry in Exploration Permit 513 in the Officer Basin in Western Australia is primarily targeting subsalt reservoir formations, including the Townsend Formation and fractured Neoproterozoic basement lithologies, for helium, hydrogen and natural gas and is planned to drill to a Total Depth of approximately 3,200m which may be extended depending on gas occurrences and reservoir quality. Globally, fractured basement reservoirs similar to that targeted in the Hussar Prospect, have proven to be prolific producers. The Bach Ho field in fractured basement offshore Vietnam for example, at its peak produced 1.6 BCFGE (billion cubic feet of gas equivalent) per day and has been in continuous production for over 40 years. (https://www.saltworkconsultants.com/downloads/Bach_Ho_Cuong_Warren_09.pdf)
A secondary target is the hydrocarbon gas potential in the Kanpa and Hussar formations overlying the primary subsalt targets. These formations have not been adequately tested to date but have shown excellent porosities and hydrocarbon shows during previous drilling.
The Hussar prospect has an Independent Geological Report dated 1st February 2026 by Competent Person, Mr Maki Petkovski, certifying unrisked SPE PRMS (the Society of Petroleum Engineers and Petroleum Resource Management Systems) net attributable 2U Prospective Resources of 283 BCF helium, 315 BCF hydrogen and 2.93 TCF of hydrocarbon gas.
Based on the pricing of Helium US$450/MCFG and Hydrogen US$2.65/kg and US$8/MCF for hydrocarbon gas, these volumes would equate to a total potential combined net attributable unrisked potential in-situ value of c.US$152 billion. These are estimates in-situ values from the AER (Australian Energy Regulator) and HNT (Helium Price Index) developed by the Company based on unrisked prospective resources; they exclude production, separation and transport-to-market costs, and there is no certainty that any part of these resources will be commercially recovered.
Further updates will follow as we progress towards the September spud date along with additional site photos which can be viewed by shareholders on the Georgina website.
Anthony Hamilton, Chief Executive Officer of Georgina Energy, commented:
'Completion of the water well on site is crucial to our planned drilling operation; the operation requires a reliable and significant water supply which we now have in place. This represents another important achievement in the necessary works to expedite mobilisation of the Ensign 970 drill rig to drill test this exciting prospect in September 2026.'
Source: Georgina Energy
