The blocks are ATPs 794 and ATP 948 in Queensland and PEL 630 and PEL(A) 641 in SA, with the company expecting to be granted the application area in the near future.

All the areas are held at 100%, except ATP 794 which is owned 88% by Bridgeport. Senex Energy has the remaining 12% interest.

There are already three locations identified for drilling, and Bridgeport is hoping to find a like-minded JV partner to come in for an equity position in all four tenements.

The drill ready prospects are in PEL 630 and ATP 794.

PEL 630 has a four-well commitment in the third year, most likely in a staged process targeting 3D defined oil targets within part of the basin that has been so successful over the past few years for Beach Energy and Senex.

The area was previously held by Senex, but was dropped to meet the mandatory relinquishment requirements that were brought in to enable acreage turnover.

The other two blocks are earlier in the exploration cycle, but are well located in terms of nearby production.

PEL(A) 641 sits on the southern flank of the Cooper Basin, an area close to Senex's Murta tight oil play. Bridgeport hopes to shoot a mix of 2D and 3D seismic, before drilling a well in the second year.

ATP 948 was only granted in 2014, and there is no pressing work to be undertaken until 2020 beyond a seismic commitment.

Despite the relatively relaxed pace of exploration, which hopefully will dovetail with an oil price recovery, Bridgeport is hopeful that it might be able to drill its first well in the blocks as part of a drilling program that is being put together from November that will primarily focus on its existing Queensland production areas.

It is tendering for a drilling rig, with various options for drilling back to back wells across the Utopia, Inland, Moonie and Kenmore/Bodella South areas.

There have been expressions of interest from more than a dozen local and international partners, including a number of Canadians and Cooper Basin incumbents, and around half have signed confidentially agreements, Energy News understands.

In addition to the dataroom process, Bridgeport will be promoting its blocks at the PESA Symposium and the RIU Good Oil Conference.

Bridgeport recently agreed to secure operatorship of the Kenmore/Bodella South area, where production is around 400bopd, a significant production boost for the company, which is owned by New Hope Corporation, and should take the company above 1000bopd.

Not a bad boost for a junior that was producing just 250bopd just three years ago, before it added the Cuisiner and Moonie fields.

The thinking is that Bridgeport is small enough that the field can be given the love and attention it deserves, something that can be lost when an asset is just one of many in a larger company.