Directors’ Report continued 7 See ASX announcement dated 19 September 2024. WA-552-P (Melbana 100%) In 2024, the Company was granted petroleum permit WA-552-P7, located offshore Western Australia in the Dampier Sub-basin of the northern Carnarvon basin (See Figure 8). The permit was applied for under the Australian Government’s 2022 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release and Melbana was one of only five companies to be awarded a new permit, with the other four all being major oil and gas companies. The permit was granted for an initial six-year period, with the primary term (first three years) work commitments comprising only desktop studies. Progressing beyond the primary term is at Melbana’s election. The permit area contains several small oil discoveries including Tusk, Okapi, Brocket, Oryx and Chamois and is immediately to the west of the Stag oil field, which has been producing oil since 1998. Melbana’s exploration thesis is that the Dampier Sub-basin may share a similar geological history to the Canning Basin, Petrel and Vulcan Sub-basins by way of salt seal deposition and carbonate reservoir architecture. The Company has been actively pursuing such plays in association with salt tectonics in its other exploration permits, WA-544-P and NT/P87. WA-552-P contains several small oil discoveries but Melbana’s concept for the block is a new deeper, carbonate play. NORTHERN CARNARVON BASIN | DAMPIER SUB-BASIN W22-5 industry.gov.au/2022-acr OFFSHORE PETROLEUM EXPLORATION ACREAGE RELEASE | AUSTRALIA 2022 Figure 8 – Location of WA-552-P (formerly W22-5). 18 Melbana Energy Limited Annual Report 2026
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