Queensland Allots New Acreages to Six Firms
The Australian state of Queensland October 30 said it had awarded new gas exploration acreage to six companies.
Comet Ridge, Denison Gas, Galilee Energy, Westside, Santos GLNG and a joint venture comprising Real Energy and Strata X have won the right to explore a total of 3,450 km2 of acreage, the state government said in a notice. Production from the acreage allocated to Comet Ridge and Denison Gas will be earmarked for the domestic market.
“Business and industry – particularly our manufacturers -- needs more affordable gas to fuel jobs and there’s one surefire way to do that – produce more gas,” the state’s energy minister Anthony Lynham said. “This is Queensland continuing to do the heavy lifting on gas for the domestic market for jobs.”
The government further said that a new 30,000 km2 land release will open for bids on November 7. The land parcels are near Roma, Longreach and Mount Isa across six basins – Bowen, Surat, Galilee, Adavale, Eromanga and Millungera, the government said.
“More gas from more fields is the only long-term way to deal with affordable domestic gas supply,” Lynham said. “This latest land release further opens up under-explored Adavale, Galilee and Millungera basins."
The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) welcomed the state government’s announcement that an additional 30,000 km2 of land in the Surat, Bowen and Galilee basins would be released for gas exploration.
“QRC has consistently pushed for extra land to be released for exploration and development. We have been very supportive of the release of areas for exploration and development to service the domestic gas market, supporting industry, jobs and households here in Queensland,” QRC CEO Ian Macfarlane said.
Macfarlane said stable policy, particularly in access to resources and clear approval processes, was essential for the development of the resources sector.