The National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA) has granted a six-month extension to the permit year 5 of NT/P68 located offshore northern Australia, said MEO Australia Ltd.
Permit year 5 will now end 26 October, plus give MEO the opportunity to further renew NT/P68 for a further five years, subject to a 50% relinquishment and negotiation with the regulator of a suitable work program.
“This six months extension will enable MEO to undertake a more comprehensive assessment of Heron gas discovery and the remainder of NT/P68 before optimizing an application to renew NT/P68 for a further 5 years,” commented the company’sMD and CEO, Peter Stickland.
The NT/P68 exploration permit is located approximately 300km northwest of Darwin in the Timor Sea in Australia. Within this permit are the Heron and Blackwood gas fields.
MEO is currently in the process of withdrawing from the Blackwood gas discovery at no cost and transferring that area of NT/P68 to joint venture partner, Eni Australia Ltd. Meaning Eni will take over as sole owner of Blackwood area.
According to MEO the Blackwood area 2C contingent resource was below the threshold size required to support development of the Tassie Shoal Methanol project. Moreover, the firm is also keen to focus technical efforts on the Heron area over which it has a 100% participating interest.
In return, Eni has agreed to bear all cost involved managing the future division of the permit to facilitate separate ownership of the Blackwood and Heron resources. However, should Australian authorities disapprove the plan to divide the permit, the entire permit will revert to MEO.
In April, NOPTA also approved MEO’s request for extension of the WA-488-P permit year 2 by six months in which the company holds 70% interest, while an international exploration company (the farminee) has 30% interest.
WA-488-P located in the Petrel Sub-basin, MEO said this would provide more time for them to aquire a 3D seismic survey over the Beehive prospect prior to drilling the Beehive-1 exploration well, expected to commence November 2017.
Image: From MEO Australia.
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