The two-year campaign is ­targeting the drilling of at least 10 wells on the Hides field, which is the main feedstock gas supplier for the $15.7 billion project.

It is understood Hides contains about 5.5 trillion cubic feet of gas, but could be even larger.

An initial well targeting the gas-water contact “has potential to increase overall Hides resource volume significantly”, said partner Oil Search.

The