Oz Awards New Offshore Exploration Permits

Australia announced February 22 the winners of new offshore exploration permits following an auction.

The winners at the 2018 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release auction were Chevron, Lattice Energy, and a joint venture of Woodside-Kufpec. The new cash-bid permits are offshore Western Australia and Victoria. The companies have paid a total of A$11.1mn (US$8mn) to secure the right to explore these areas for six years, a government statement said.

Chevron Australia bagged the W18-10 release area in exploration permit WA-537-P in Western Australia’s Northern Carnarvon Basin, 240km west of Onslow. Chevron Australia’s successful cash bid was A$2mn.

Lattice Energy was awarded the V18-3 release area in exploration permit VIC/P73 in Victoria’s Otway Basin. Lattice’s successful cash bid was A$4mn.

The Woodside-Kufpec joint venture was awarded the W18-7 release area in exploration permit WA-536-P offshore Western Australia. The joint venture’s successful joint cash bid was A$5.1mn.

Two further permits failed to sell. The W18-6 release area received one unsuccessful bid and has now reverted to vacant acreage. The W18-8 release area did not receive any pre-qualification applications and has now reverted to vacant acreage, the government statement said.

Cash-bid permits authorise the holder to apply to undertake exploration activities in the permit area. Australia's independent offshore petroleum regulator, the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA), assesses the applications.

According to the government, this will be the last cash bid auction for the foreseeable future. “Going forward, the focus will be on work program bidding. This requires a new titleholder to commit to a program of exploration activities that will significantly advance the petroleum potential of an area,” it said.