Government will introduce CASH BIDDING to release offshore...

Government will introduce CASH BIDDING to release offshore petroleum acreage!!! And analyst predicts that the policy will apply to oil and gas fields at Carnavon and Bass Strait. And we have both! With Bass Strait recently acquired from BAS. Now I understand what OBL management team is trying to do....amazing foresight!



Article is as below:
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THE petroleum industry has slammed a federal government plan to extract cash bids for exploration permits, which would add to the cost pressures afflicting Australian oil and gas projects.

Amid speculation that Australia's largest resource project, Chevron's giant $43 billion Gorgon liquefied natural gas development at Barrow Island off Western Australia, faced a cost blowout of up to $20 billion, federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson surprised the industry on Wednesday by announcing the government would introduce cash bidding for release of offshore petroleum acreage.

''This will apply only to mature areas, or those known to contain petroleum accumulations,'' he said.

Analysts speculated that the policy would apply to already-developed oil and gas fields such as the Carnarvon Basin and Bass Strait.

Advertisement At present oil and gas companies interested in getting offshore permits submit a work program detailing expected spending on exploration. Generally, the party proposing to spend the most is given the exploration acreage.

A cash bidding system is used to allocate exploration rights in North America but it allows oil and gas companies to ''sit'' on acreage without developing it and it has been considered unsuitable for ''frontier'' areas such as Australia.


THE petroleum industry has slammed a federal government plan to extract cash bids for exploration permits, which would add to the cost pressures afflicting Australian oil and gas projects.

Amid speculation that Australia's largest resource project, Chevron's giant $43 billion Gorgon liquefied natural gas development at Barrow Island off Western Australia, faced a cost blowout of up to $20 billion, federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson surprised the industry on Wednesday by announcing the government would introduce cash bidding for release of offshore petroleum acreage.

''This will apply only to mature areas, or those known to contain petroleum accumulations,'' he said.

Analysts speculated that the policy would apply to already-developed oil and gas fields such as the Carnarvon Basin and Bass Strait.

Advertisement At present oil and gas companies interested in getting offshore permits submit a work program detailing expected spending on exploration. Generally, the party proposing to spend the most is given the exploration acreage.

A cash bidding system is used to allocate exploration rights in North America but it allows oil and gas companies to ''sit'' on acreage without developing it and it has been considered unsuitable for ''frontier'' areas such as Australia.



Read more at:

http://www.smh.com.au/business/gas-oil-explorers-hit-out-at-offshore-permit-bid-plan-20121114-29cmn.html