Melbana Wins Two Permits Off North Oz

Sydney-listed Melbana Energy has been awarded 100% interests in two additional petroleum exploration permits offshore northern Australia as part of the Australian government’s 2019 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release, it said on November 26.

The permits, WA-544-P and NT/P87, have been awarded for an initial period of six years and are adjacent to Melbana’s existing WA-488-P permit area that contains the Beehive prospect.

“The award of these additional permits next to our Beehive prospect allows us to build on the knowledge we have gained studying WA-488-P to pursue other leads across a wider area,” Melbana executive chairman, Andrew Purcell, said. “This additional running room makes the Beehive prospect an even more exciting opportunity, particularly since the minimum work requirements can leverage Melbana’s in-house expertise before having to decide whether to commit to the larger work commitments in years four and beyond.”

Fellow Australian explorer Santos last year acquired a 40% interest in permit WA-488-P, which contains the Beehive prospect, which has a best estimate prospective resource of 388mn barrels of oil equivalent, Melbana said in November 2019.