Resources and industry minister Ian Macfarlane said the companies that had been granted the permits would invest up to $180 million in exploration during the permits’ six year lives.

The permit that attracted the most interest was Timor Sea block NT/P69 where ConocoPhillips (60%) and Santos (40%) beat two other bids to win the lease. NT/P69 is adjacent to the Evans Shoal and Caldita gas discoveries.

In September, Santos said it had intersected a major gas column at Caldita. Caldita and any discoveries in the new permit are likely to feed the Darwin LNG project. The permit deal is worth about $60 million in development and well costs.

In the adjacent NT/P70 permit, Australian Oil and Gas Corporation has won the block with a guaranteed work program of 300 square kilometres of 3D seismic and 700km of 2D seismic data acquisition and studies at an estimated cost of $3.85 million. The secondary work program consists of one exploration well and studies with an estimated cost of $15.45 million. There were no other bids for the area.

In the offshore Perth Basin, Nexus Energy beat two other bids to win WA-368-P near the Cliff Head oil discovery. Work in this block is expected to cost almost $15 million.

The permit equity interests will be: Nexus Energy 50% (operator), Voyager Energy Ltd 30% and Wandoo Petroleum Pty Ltd 20%.

Trident Energy Ltd was the sole bidder for Vic/P62 in the Otway Basin. It plans to spend around $10 million on exploration work.

In the Ashmore and Cartier region, Natural Gas Corporation, Auralandia NL and Gascorp Inc were granted Permit AC/P35 for a project covering new seismic data and wells worth $19 million. The permit is in the Bonaparte Basin part of the region.

Elsewhere in the Ashmore and Cartier region but in the northern Browse Basin, Finder Exploration was the sole bidder for AC/P36 in a project worth $24 million, and

Apache Northwest was the sole bidder for AC/P37 in a project worth $33 million.

Meanwhile back on dry land, the Queensland Government has opened up more than 2,500 square kilometres for competitive tendering for petroleum exploration.

Minister for natural resources and mines Henry Palaszczuk said four separate areas in the State would be available for petroleum exploration under Authority to Prospect (ATP) tenures.

“Three of the areas are in central Queensland between Emerald and Baralaba and the fourth is located near Surat in southern Queensland,” Palaszczuk said.

“The release of this land provides an excellent opportunity for the petroleum industry to obtain areas for exploration in the Bowen and Surat Basins, which have a long history of petroleum and coal seam gas production.”

Palaszczuk said future calls for tender were planned for other prospective areas around the State, which would continue to expand the petroleum industry.