The leases – WA-364-P, WA-365-P, WA-366-P & WA-367-P – are located on the Exmouth Plateau, west of the Greater Gorgon area. Chevron and Shell are partners in the Gorgon development.

“The Plateau is the deep-water frontier of the Carnarvon basin, Australia’s premier petroleum basin, which includes the North West Shelf and Greater Gorgon resources,” said Shell Companies in Australia chairman, Tim Warren.

“Australia is an important part of Shell’s regional and global growth ambitions for gas. Shell is a global leader in LNG and a long-term player in Australia.

"We are keen to add more integrated gas to our portfolio and are looking to discover more gas around the LNG hubs where we already have a presence – Gorgon, Browse, Sunrise and the Timor Sea.”

Chevron said it was also looking for growth opportunities in Australia.

“Western Australia is a cornerstone of Chevron’s plans to build an internationally competitive gas business to supply energy to Australia, Asia and North America’s west coast,” Chevron Australia managing director Jay Johnson said.

“The award of this new acreage comes on the heels of our successful exploration offshore Western Australia last year, which resulted in the Wheatstone gas discovery.

“We plan to use Chevron’s proprietary seismic techniques and extensive deepwater project experience in combination with our joint-venture partner to deliver greater value."

The planned three-year work program includes seismic data reprocessing, acquisition of 5,032 kilometres of two-dimensional seismic, 3,521 square kilometres of 3D seismic and drilling two exploration wells. Seismic work will begin later this year or early 2006.

The partners said there was also the potential for a further three-year work program.