Comet Ridge has reported progress at its Mahalo gas hub project, highlighted by the success of recent drilling operations of the Mahalo East 1 and Mahalo East 2 wells.

Laboratory analysis of core samples from the Mahalo East 1 vertical well continues to indicate promising gas desorption volumes.

The drilling activities have been bolstered by support from the Queensland Government's Frontier Gas Exploration Grants Programme, under which Comet Ridge will receive a $5m grant.

The installation of production equipment including tubing and a downhole pump is under way at the Mahalo East 1 well pad.

This is in preparation for the commencement of water lifting and gas testing scheduled for next month.

Additionally, the production separator, flare and metering skid have been relocated from the Mahalo North pilot area to the new well pad, along with a temporary water management system.

The Mahalo JV project, in which Comet Ridge holds a 57.14% stake and operator Santos holds 42.86%, has reached a significant milestone.

Santos has approved the commencement of FEED for the project. This marks the transition from the feasibility stage to FEED, a crucial step before making the final investment decision.

Comet Ridge will collaborate with Santos on the upstream FEED process to finalise the work programme and timeline in the coming weeks.

For the Mahalo North project, in which Comet Ridge holds 100% interest, the company received Environmental Authority (EA) approval from the Queensland Government in August.

The process for EPBC (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation) approval is now ongoing through the Federal Government.

Recent activities for Mahalo North have focused on field analysis and sampling to support the response to a detailed preliminary data request.

Comet Ridge expects to submit the final report next week, as laboratory analysis of the field samples is nearing completion.