The Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson AM MP, has launched the 2010 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release at the annual Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) conference in Brisbane.
Minister Ferguson said there are 31 exploration areas on offer across five basins this year. Areas have been carefully selected to offer a range of investment opportunities. They vary in size, known prospectivity, water depth and level of existing geological data and knowledge.
Australia has a $16 billion trade deficit in crude oil, refined products and LPG, which is expected to rise, possibly as high as $30 billion by 2015. Our energy security will be greatly enhanced by the opening up of new geological frontiers, reducing our dependence on imports. Exploration in the areas under offer, some of which are in frontier areas, is a step towards achieving our energy security objective," Minister Ferguson said.
The best chance of a major new petroleum discovery is in the vast offshore frontier sedimentary basins. The 2010 Acreage Release areas are supported by the pre-competitive seismic data and seafloor mapping studies of frontier areas off Australia's west coast by Geoscience Australia.
Addressing APPEA's 50th anniversary conference, Minister Ferguson applauded the efforts of Australia's petroleum industry over half a century.
"Australia has an enviable history of world-class petroleum discoveries. The roll-call of discoveries, from Bass Strait and the Timor Sea to the Carnarvon and Browse Basins, puts us among the world's most highly-prospective regions for petroleum. As more discoveries move from exploration to production, we will see more record levels of investment and thousands more jobs."
Further information on the Acreage Release is available at: www.petroleum-acreage.gov.au.