Eastern Star will earn its interest by funding 100% of the first two years’ work commitments which consist of seismic acquisition and the drilling of one well.

PEL 427 covers an area of 7010.5 km 2 in northern New South Wales and lies immediately to the north of Eastern Star’s PEL 238 permit which contains the Coonarah Gas Field, the Wilga Park Power Station and the Bohena coal seam gas pilot project.

Andy Lydyard, Comet Ridge’s managing director, said “We are pleased to be associated with the Eastern Star team as they have demonstrated a successful track record of commercialising gas reserves in the adjacent permit and have developed a detailed knowledge of the basin. This deal enables us to focus our management and financial resources on more advanced projects such as Tipton West and Mahalo.”