Melbana Energy Limited is pleased to announce that one of its wholly
owned subsidiaries has been granted petroleum exploration permit WA-552-P (Permit),
located offshore Western Australia in the Dampier Sub-basin of the Northern Carnarvon basin
(see Figure 1). Melbana made an application for this Permit under the Australian
Government’s 2022 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release.
The Permit has been granted for an initial period of six years, with work requirements for the
primary term (the initial three years) being desktop work only. Progressing from
the primary term to the secondary term is at Melbana’s election.
Melbana Energy’s Executive Chairman, Andrew Purcell, commented: “The Future Gas
Strategy released by the Federal Government earlier this year stated that natural gas will
remain an important part of Australia’s energy mix to 2050 and beyond. The grant of this
Permit gives our geoscientists the opportunity to study the existing data set covering the Permit
to leverage the experience they have gained with similar exploration themes elsewhere
offshore Australia to try and help address the looming projected gas supply deficit. We are
pleased that their expertise in identifying and defining significant new exploration targets has
been recognised alongside the likes of Esso, Chevron, INPEX and Woodside who were also
granted permits in the first new acreage release for several years”.
Melbana has been awarded the Permit following an extensive review of existing seismic and
well data within the greater northwest shelf region using new interpretation approaches and by
leveraging our extensive worldwide experience within carbonates and salt related tectonics.
The aim of these studies has been to use successful Palaeozoic carbonate play analogues
from the Middle East, USA and Caspian region to identify related new play types for potential
large gas accumulations in Australia.
The Permit area has been explored since the 1960s and contains several small oil discoveries,
including Tusk, Okapi, Brocket, Oryx and Chamois and is immediately to the west of the Stag
oil field which has been producing oil since 1998.
The future of this region depends on developing and testing some entirely new / deeper play
concepts targeting large gas discoveries,
Melbana believes that the Dampier Sub-basin may share a similar geological history to the
Canning Basin, Petrel and Vulcan Sub-basins by way of salt seal deposition and carbonate
reservoir architecture. Interpreting faults using this model could lead to new potential for this
region.
Melbana has been directly pursuing such plays in association with salt tectonics in its other
exploration permits, WA-544-P and NT/P87.
This effort started with Melbana’s original involvement in permits WA-454-P and WA-488-P
with the development of a carbonate platform exploration play in the Petrel basin.
Melbana has been successful over the last few years in promoting a Palaeozoic carbonate
exploration theme to the wider industry, attracting multiple majors to fund 3D seismic data
acquisition over the Beehive feature in WA-488-P, which Melbana ultimately sold to a major
US oil and gas company for an upfront cash consideration and further contingent cash and
royalty payments.