Release of petroleum exploration acreage

Oil and gas explorers now have the opportunity to bid for offshore petroleum acreage releases in Commonwealth waters.

The Federal Government announced the release of 35 new exploration areas in April. The 2008 releases are located across five basins off the Northern Territory, Western Australia and the Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands coastlines.

Of the 35 areas released, 23 are located in Western Australia.

The Department of Industry and Resources Director of Petroleum and Royalties Bill Tinapple said the 2008 acreage releases would encourage investment in petroleum exploration within Western Australia.

“Exploration is fundamental to the future of the State’s resources industry, and the long-term growth of this vital industry,” he said.

“Petroleum production in Western Australia has grown over the years, from US$24 million worth of production in 1973, to more than US$12 billion now.

“Intensifying oil and gas exploration ensures Western Australia maintains its international competitiveness.

“Western Australia is one of the few places in the developed world where potential remains for larger discoveries and potential for ongoing exploration success is enormous.”

The 2008 release also includes seven Designated Frontier Areas which are eligible for the frontier exploration tax incentive of 150 per cent uplift for exploration expenditure.

Mr Tinapple said that the tax incentive boosted the attractiveness of frontier areas to explorers.

“As exploration in frontier areas is often a higher cost and risk, tax incentives are a way to encourage exploration in the area,” he said.

“Encouraging exploration in these selected areas can contribute to increasing the chances of a new petroleum province being discovered.”

Mr Tinapple said that in addition to the 35 offshore areas released in April, the State Government had announced the availability of 10 more petroleum acreage areas in Western Australia.

“The Department of Industry and Resources has also released six onshore and four offshore Western Australian petroleum acreage releases,” he said.

“The State has extensive onshore and offshore sedimentary basins, the majority of which are considered prospective for new petroleum discoveries.

“The 10 areas are located in the Canning Basin, Northern Carnarvon Basin and onshore Perth Basin.

“Western Australia ranks amongst the best areas in the world for petroleum exploration, and can boast a success rate in the order of 10 to 40 per cent in recent years.

“These acreage releases reflect the State Government’s commitment to intensifying mineral, oil and gas exploration.”

Applications for acreage released by the Department of Industry and Resources close on 2 October while acreage released by the Federal Government, close on 9 October for 17 of the new areas and 9 April 2009 for the remaining 18 areas.

Further information on areas released by the Department of Industry and Resources can be obtained at www.doir.wa.gov.au

Information on the areas released by the Federal Government can be found at www.ret.go.au/petexp.