A joint venture between Buru Energy and Mineral Resources has been awarded two gas exploration permits in the Perth and Northern Carnarvon basins, the companies said on March 29. The permits were granted under the recent Western Australian Petroleum Acreage Release.  

Permit L20-4 is located in the Perth basin and spans an area of 2,289 km² while permit L20-1 is located in the Northern Carnarvon basin and covers an area of 6,293 km². Buru and Mineral Resources submitted a joint bid, and will now form a 50:50 joint venture partnership, with the former as the permit operator.  

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Initial mapping by the joint venture has identified a number of conventional oil and gas prospects that can be tested by relatively shallow wells on the basis of the “sparse but good quality” existing seismic data, Buru said.  

“This new exploration area complements our Canning basin areas where we are about to start an exciting drilling programme and we look forward to working with the various stakeholders in this new area, and getting boots on the ground to find some oil and gas,” Buru’s executive chairman Eric Streitberg said.  

Mineral Resources said it is now the largest petroleum acreage holder in the Perth basin, operating permits totalling more than 7,200 km². The addition of the Perth and Northern Carnarvon basin acreage increases its total acreage position in Western Australia to 13,493 km².