Oz Mahalo Gas Project Receives Lease Approvals

Sydney-listed Comet Ridge’s Mahalo gas project has been granted Queensland state government petroleum leases (PLs) 1082 (Humboldt) and 1083 (Mahalo), the company said on July 7. These have been issued for a term of 30 years.

The project is located inside the northern part of the ATP 1191 area. This project is held 40% by Comet Ridge, 30% by Santos and 30% by APLNG, which is a joint venture comprising Origin Energy, ConocoPhillips and Sinopec.

These petroleum lease awards are the final regulatory approval required for the project to move forward to production and follows the Commonwealth Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) approval in May and the Queensland department of environment and science environmental approval in June, Comet Ridge said.

Comet Ridge Chairman, James McKay said Comet Ridge and its partners have undertaken many years of exploration, appraisal and development planning activities to prove up Mahalo as a valuable development ready gas project and he was very pleased the project now has full regulatory approval to be able to realise full value for the asset.

‘’The Mahalo gas project is well positioned to deliver meaningful gas production into the domestic and export market as part of an emerging greater Mahalo fairway,” Comet Ridge chairman, James McKay, said. “The streamlined approval process shows it has the support of the Queensland government and we look forward to working with our joint venture partners in progressing Mahalo towards a final investment decision.”

The company said the work is also continuing at its 100% owned Mahalo North project including seismic interpretation to optimise drilling locations so that it is development ready and can be quickly tied into either the Mahalo gas project or other nearby gas processing and pipeline facilities.