US oil and gas company Apache Corp has claimed that it has made a staggering oil discovery off the coast of Western Australia.
Reuters is reporting that the company has pointed to possibly as much as 300 million barrels of oil in what could be a commercially viable new oil province in the country.
If the scale of the discovery is found to be accurate, Fairfax claims it could be Australia’s biggest oil find in 30 years.
Apache claims that it has found at least four separate oil columns while drilling at the Phoenix South-1 well in the Canning Basin.
"Although evaluation is at an early stage, Phoenix South-1 is an exciting result," Apache's international chief operating officer, Thomas Voytovich, was quoted as saying in a statement.
"If these results are borne out by further appraisal drilling, Phoenix South may represent a new oil province for Australia," he said.
Apache, which is currently considering selling its Australian assets, said it would continue to evaluate the area with its partners Carnarvon Petroleum Ltd , Finder Exploration and JX Nippon.
Carnarvon owns 20 per cent of the WA-435-P drilling venture, as do Japan's JX Nippon and unlisted Finder Exploration, while Apache owns 40 per cent and is the operator.
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