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Milestone in Native Title land access for explorers

May 13, 2009 Subscribe to Latest News

Minister for Mineral Resources Development Paul Holloway said today South Australia has granted the first petroleum exploration licence since a milestone land access agreement was reached with native title-holders in the Cooper Basin.

Mr Holloway says PEL 96 within the Cooper Basin has been granted to a consortium comprising Strike Oil Ltd and Australian Gasfields Ltd after the licensees accepted the provisions of the Conjunctive Petroleum Indigenous Land Use Agreement.

“The Conjunctive Petroleum ILUA was a first for this State, and was Australia’s first such agreement covering a proven petroleum-producing region,” Mr Holloway says.

“Today marks a further milestone in this process of negotiating land access with the granting of a Petroleum Exploration Licence in which the licensee has accepted the provisions of the indigenous land use agreement reached with the Yandruwandha & Yawarrawarrka people of the State’s far northeast.

“The acceptance of the Conjunctive ILUA by a licensee represents an evolutionary step in streamlining the processes that enable the grant of licences for petroleum exploration and production in South Australia, while also protecting rights that flow from Native Title.

“This acceptance is an excellent outcome that manifests trust in the processes that both protect Native Title and enable upstream petroleum operations in South Australia.”

Mr Holloway acknowledged the significance of this acceptance of the agreement by a licensee.

“The goodwill established since the implementation of Native Title land access arrangements in South Australia in 2001 has been continued through the acceptance of this agreement,” he says.

“Negotiations to reach further conjunctive ILUAs are progressing in our State, and I look forward to further positive outcomes in the near term.”

Mr Holloway says five Cooper Basin exploration licences were recently offered to the market through a competitive bidding process, with bids due to close 15 October 2009.

This process provides for successful bidders to similarly accept the conditions of a Conjunctive Petroleum Indigenous Land Use Agreement where such an agreement has been formalised, he says.

Government South Australia