Queensland Awards New Gas Tenders
Queensland has awarded new gas exploration tenders in Surat and Bowen Basins to Santos and Denison Gas, the state government said on May 25 in a statement.
Mines minister Anthony Lynham said Santos would seek new gas between Chinchilla and Roma and Denison Gas would start exploring for gas near Emerald.
“This is about unlocking more gas for local manufacturing, industrial users, and securing Aussie jobs,” Lynham said. “Santos will explore across more than 2,000 km2 of highly prospective areas in Queensland’s world-class Surat and Bowen Basins. Nearly half of this land can only produce gas for the domestic market.” Denison will explore for gas to supply to Australian-only users from 568 km2 of land south-east of Emerald in the Bowen Basin.
The latest tenures come on the back of more than 6,700 km2 of land being opened to tender for gas exploration between Blackwater and Goondiwindi last week. The new land release is part of a package for exploration companies in response to the uncertainties created by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.