Queensland awards six tenders for petroleum, gas exploration

The Queensland government has awarded six tenders for petroleum and gas exploration in the Bowen and Surat basins, it announced on June 20.

Denison Gas has secured three exploration areas, while Comet Ridge, Elixir Energy, and Tri-Star Stonecroft have been awarded one each.

The companies must now meet environmental, native title, and other approval requirements before the authorities to prospect can be considered for grant under the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004. Following the grant of authorities to prospect, the permit holders will also need to complete land access and potentially other approval requirements before commencing on-ground exploration.

Queensland has three major LNG export projects: Origin-operated Australia Pacific LNG, Santos's Gladstone LNG, and Shell's Queensland Curtis LNG. Exports from these three projects totalled 1.89mn tonnes in May, down 1.56% year/year, according to data released by Gladstone Port Corp. on June 6.