Queensland Releases New Oil, Gas Acreages
The Queensland government has released 12 new areas for oil and gas exploration in Bowen and Surat basins for competitive tender, it said on May 14 in a statement.
This follows the announcement last week of relief measures to protect Queensland explorers from the impacts of Covid-19, which included the recommencement of the 2020 Queensland exploration programme, first announced in February.
The 12 new areas, totalling 6,746 km2, are subject to environmental, native title and other approval requirements, the government said. Five of the areas, totalling 872 km2, will be subject to an Australian market supply condition, ensuring gas produced from these areas is supplied exclusively to the domestic market.
The tender areas provide opportunities for coal-bed methane and other unconventional gas, as well as conventional oil and gas exploration. The tenders will close on July 9, with exploration rights to be awarded to successful bidders by September 2020.
The upstream lobby group Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (Appea) CEO Andrew McConville said Queensland has led the development of onshore gas fields for decades and continues to do the heavy lifting to meet Australia’s growing needs.
“Queensland should be congratulated for continuing to see the economic benefits that flow to their communities from developing and using natural gas, especially in these challenging times,” McConville said.