Queensland Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, the Hon. Dr Anthony Lynham, has revealed that Santos and Denison Gas are the latest to take up the hunt in the state’s proven gasfields.
Dr Lynham detailed that Santos would seek new gas between Chinchilla and Roma and Denison Gas would start exploring for gas near Emerald.
“Santos will explore across more than 2000 square kilometres of highly prospective areas in Queensland’s world-class Surat and Bowen Basins,” Dr Lynham said.
“Nearly half of this land can only produce gas for the domestic market.”
The Mines Minister added that Santos will be able to use their existing gas infrastructure and get gas to market faster.
Denison Gas will explore for gas to supply to Australian-only users from 568 square kilometres of land south-east of Emerald in the Bowen Basin.
“This means gas explorers are working more than 7000 square kilometres of land in Queensland for gas for the Australian market,” Dr Lynham said.
The latest tenures come on the back of more than 6700 square kilometres of land being opened to tender for gas exploration between Blackwater and Goondiwindi last week.
The new land release is part of a multi-million-dollar package, which includes rent and fee waivers, to help maintain the state’s pipeline of resources projects and jobs.
Since 2015, the Queensland Government has released nearly 80,000 square kilometres of land for gas exploration with over a quarter of it guaranteed for the Australian domestic market. For information on tendering, please visit current tenders.