Santos announced the execution of a farm-in agreement across permits in the Amadeus and Pedirka Basins in the Northern Territory.
The farm-in agreement with Central Petroleum Limited is conditional on various regulatory approvals, including renewal or extension of the permits.
The terms of the agreement are as follows:
Santos Vice President Eastern Australia, James Baulderstone, said that the Amadeus and Pedirka Basins and their proximity to existing infrastructure presented an opportunity for Santos to develop gas resources for the Australian market at the scale required to allow commercialisation.
“These basins hold great potential and under the arrangement with Central Petroleum we will be able to test the prospectivity of the acreage over the next three years,” he said.
“Santos has over 40 years of experience in exploring and developing oil and gas resources in central Australia and will bring to this program of work our experience and understanding of the geology in the region.”
Santos has operated the existing Mereenie field in the Amadeus Basin since 1993, currently supplying gas to Northern Territory customers and exporting oil and condensate via Port Bonython in South Australia.
“The proposed program is complementary to, and a natural extension of, our operation at Mereenie and adds to the scale and presence of Santos’ operations in Central Australia,” said Mr Baulderstone.
Under the farm-in, Central Petroleum will be free-carried through the seismic surveys, well assessment program and other exploration costs.
[mappress] LNG World News Staff, October 02, 2012; Image: Santos