The first well in the program will be Melba-1 (Beach 10%) in PEP 154 near Port Campbell in western Victoria. The Santos-operated gas exploration well is scheduled to spud in a few weeks.

Following Melba, Beach said it will return to the Cooper Basin to drill seven exploration well, while three development wells will also be drilled in the Bodalla/Kenmore fields in Queensland.

Mona-1, the first planned well in the Cooper Basin, will target an oil prospect located on the boundary between PEL 92 (Beach 75%) and PEL 107 (Beach 40%).

The prospect is south of Beach's Sellicks-1 oil discovery, and given its location between Sellicks oil field and Santos' Lake Hope fields, "is considered to be in a prime location," according to Beach's managing director, Reg Nelson.

"The Sellicks discovery is an excellent example of how quickly a discovery in this region can be brought to market and contribute to Beach's profitability," Nelson said.

"Discoveries of this nature have opened up exciting new trends throughout Cooper Basin and Beach's drilling program this year aims to capitalise on these opportunities."

Fresh from reporting a 550% increase in net profit for the half-year, the Adelaide-based company plans to spend up to $9 million drilling targets that ranged from 2 to 5 million barrels of recoverable oil.