South Oz Opens Eight Onshore Blocks for Bidding
The government of South Australia May 27 announced the opening of bidding for five new petroleum exploration licences (PELs) in the Cooper Basin and three in the Otway Basin.
Winning bidders will be selected on the basis of the total five-year work programme bid, the government said. Also, applicants must provide information on the adequacy of their financial resources and technical expertise to satisfactorily undertake the proposed work programme and their ability to ensure overall regulatory compliance.
“The Marshall Liberal government is committed to the expansion of South Australia’s resources sector and the jobs and investment that will deliver for our state,” said minister for Mining and Energy Dan van Holst Pellekaan.
He said escalating world demand for gas and oil presents enormous potential for growth in the local resources sector and the role it plays in underpinning South Australia’s economic foundations.
Minister van Holst Pellekaan said this is the first major release of multiple Cooper Basin blocks since 2013.
A total of 13,584.1 km2 is available for work programme bidding in the SA Cooper and Eromanga basins. The five blocks offer a diversity of play types and the opportunity to build a portfolio of prospects and leads across the Warburton, Cooper and Eromanga basins, the government said.
Following recent acreage relinquishments, three new licences in the Otway Basin are also being offered for work programme bidding. The release totals 6950.8 km2 and offers a diversity of conventional early and late Cretaceous oil and gas plays, the government stated.
The state has 10-year moratorium on fracture stimulation operations in the Limestone Coast Region enacted by the South Australian Government on 7 September 2018.
“However, it is business as usual for conventional petroleum operations in the region,” van Holst Pellekaan said. The grant of a PEL does not enable regulated activities within those tenements.
The successful bidder will be able to acquire seismic and drill conventional oil and gas wells, subject to the requisite approval processes under the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 2000.
Both Cooper and Otway basin bidding closes November 29, 2019.