The National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) awarded Statoil 100% equity share in the prolific Northern Carnarvon basin on the Northwest shelf of Australia.
The permit WA-506-P covers an area of more than 13,000sq km and is located 300km off Western Australia in water depths of 1500m to 2000m.
For WA-506-P, Statoil committed to collect 2000 line km of 2D seismic and 3500sq km of 3D seismic data within three years. Depending on the analysis of the data, Statoil will then decide on what steps to take next.
According to Statoil, other parts of the Northern Carnarvon basin have already proved large volumes of gas and it has multiple fields in production and established infrastructure.
“This award adds another large acreage position with high-impact potential to our global portfolio, in line with our exploration strategy,” says Erling Vågnes, Statoil senior VP for exploration in the Eastern hemisphere. “This is an untested part of a prolific basin, offering significant upside potential.”
This permit that was obtained through the 2013 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release marks Statoil’s third asset in Australia, adding to four BP-operated offshore permits in the Great Australian Bight and the onshore operatorship in the Northern Territory’s South Georgina basin.
In 2013, Statoil signed a farm-in agreement with BP to acquire 30% equity share in licenses EPP 37, 38, 39 and 40 located in the frontier Ceduna Sub basin within the Great Australian Bight. The license area covers approximately 24,000sq km.
Map from Statoil.
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