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Australia Awards New Offshore Exploration Permits

Published May 30, 2014 8:20 PM by The Maritime Executive

Australia’s industry Minister Ian Macfarlane has announced the awarding of nine new permits as part of Round 1 of the Australian Government’s 2013 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release.

The new permits are located in Commonwealth waters offshore from Western Australia, Victoria and the Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands.

“I am pleased to see the continuing exploration of Australia’s offshore petroleum sector,” Macfarlane said. “These permits will see more than $372 million in exploration investment over the next six years.

“This demonstrates the importance of putting in place a policy framework to ensure Australia remains a strong and attractive investment destination. I look forward to working with the petroleum industry to maintain exploration investment in Australia.

The specific permits awarded include:

VIC/P69 (released as V13-1) located offshore Victoria in the Otway Basin has been awarded to Origin Energy Resources. 

AC/P57 (released as AC13-4) located offshore Western Australia in the Bonaparte Basin has been awarded to Murphy Australia Oil and Mitsui E&P Australia. 

WA-497-P (released as W13-18) located offshore Western Australia approximately 75 km west of Onslow, has been awarded to AWE Australia. 

WA-498-P (released as W13-10) located offshore Western Australia approximately 163 km north of Karratha has been awarded to Santos Offshore and JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration (Australia). 

WA-499-P (released as W13-13) located offshore Western Australia approximately 160 km north-northwest of Onslow, has been awarded to Apache Northwest. 

WA-500-P (released as W13-9) located offshore Western Australia approximately 190 km north west of Dampier, has been awarded to Finder No 7. 

WA-501-P (released as W13-12) located offshore Western Australia approximately 80 km north-west of Dampier has been awarded to Carnarvon Petroleum. 

WA-502-P (released as W13-2) located offshore Western Australia has been awarded to Santos Browse and INPEX Browse E&P. 

WA-503-P (released as W13-11) located offshore Western Australia approximately 90km north of Dampier in the Northern Carnarvon Basin, has been awarded to Neon Energy. 
Other 2013 Acreage Release areas

The Australian Government has obligations under the Perth Treaty to provide the Indonesian Government with three months notification prior to permits being awarded in the Perth Treaty area. At the conclusion of this three month period, the Joint Authority will offer Petroleum Exploration Permits for release areas AC13-1, AC13-2 and AC13-3.