Omega Oil and Gas says results from the first well in its 2026/27 drilling program provide strong evidence for an internationally significant oil and gas province in the eastern Taroom Trough.

Canyon-3 reached a total depth of 3792.6m on August 15 and the data acquired confirms the presence of six regionally correlatable oil- and gas-bearing reservoirs with indications of overpressure, according to the company.

Omega said the Canyon-3 well results added to the growing body of evidence demonstrating the continuous nature and scale of the Canyon sandstone, which has previously demonstrated oil and gas flows.

The earlier Canyon-1H well delivered a production rate of 987 BOPD and 1.45 MMscf/d, normalised to a 2000m lateral.

Related: Omega spuds Canyon-3 to kick off its biggest Taroom Trough campaign

“These excellent Canyon-3 well results are a major step toward demonstrating the scale of the oil and gas resources in the eastern Taroom Trough,” Omega (ASX: OMA) chief executive officer and managing director Trevor Brown said.

“The first well in our program was drilled safely and efficiently with the high-quality results exceeding our pre-drill expectations.

“We saw thicker and better reservoirs in Canyon-3 compared to previous wells and proved continuity of the geology in target reservoirs, further confirming our geological model.

“It is particularly pleasing to see upside in the Canyon sandstone which has already demonstrated flow from the Canyon-1H well.

“The Canyon-3 well has also highlighted the potential of an additional reservoir interval in the Lower Kianga which adds to the five stacked, regionally extensive reservoirs that we map across our acreage.

“This additional reservoir target provides further optionality.

“I am very excited that a growing body of evidence is demonstrating that our 1800sq km operated acreage area in the eastern Taroom Trough hosts internationally significant resources of oil and gas in highly overpressured, high-quality sandstone reservoirs that are continuous across our project area.

“The rig is now moving to the Canyon-4 location, with drilling expected to commence in about seven days and results expected in late September.”

The State Government has launched a Taroom Trough Development Plan to guide the fast-tracking of oil and gas production in the region.

Omega said high-quality drilling data, surface logging and wireline logs acquired from the Canyon-3 well show a 526m thick, oil and gas-bearing Permian interval with 170m of aggregate net pay.

Log analysis indicates 18m (net) oil-bearing sands were encountered with an average porosity of 11.5 per cent within a 42m thick (gross) Canyon sandstone target.

This was greater than the equivalent interval in Canyon-1.

A key objective of Omega’s 2026/27 vertical appraisal program is to establish the scale of the oil and gas resources on the eastern flank of the Taroom Trough.