The annual offshore petroleum exploration acreage release is part of the government’s strategy to promote offshore oil and gas exploration. Each year, the government invites companies to bid for the opportunity to invest in oil and gas exploration in Australian waters. The 2021 acreage release consists of 21 areas offshore of Western Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and the Ashmore and Cartier Islands.

The annual offshore petroleum exploration acreage release is part of the government’s strategy to promote offshore oil and gas exploration. Each year, the government invites companies to bid for the opportunity to invest in oil and gas exploration in Australian waters. The 2020 acreage release consists of 42 areas offshore of the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Victoria and the Ashmore and Cartier Islands.

Petroleum Titles map Basin and Coastline data

Thumb-drive containing petroleum geological reports and data sets in support of acreage release and related promotional activities.

Map of permits currently held by Silver Wave Energy (AC/P49 to 51). Paper size A0.

The Australian Government formally releases new offshore exploration areas at the annual APPEA conference. The previous two releases were characterised by several large gazetted areas in underexplored regions, a trend that is maintained this year with several frontier areas in excess of 100 graticular blocks on offer. The uptake of new exploration permits in the Bight Basin, the offshore North Perth Basin and the Roebuck Basin indicates a continuing strong industry interest in offshore frontier exploration.

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The Australian Government formally releases new offshore exploration areas at the annual APPEA conference. These areas are located across various offshore hydrocarbon provinces ranging from mature basins with ongoing oil and gas production, to exploration frontiers. A total of 23 areas are released for work-program bidding and six areas for cash bidding. The two work-program bidding rounds will remain open until 29 October 2015 and 21 April 2016 respectively, while cash bid submissions will close on 4 February 2016. The 2015 Release Areas are located in thirteen distinct regional geological provinces across eight basins and all were supported by industry nominations. Six areas are located in the Bonaparte Basin, two of which are cash bid areas over the Turtle/Barnett oil accumulations. The Browse Basin is represented by three areas in the Caswell Sub-basin and one area on the Yampi Shelf. In support of recent exploration activities and success, one large area has been gazetted in the central Roebuck Basin. The Northern Carnarvon Basin offers eleven areas on the Exmouth Plateau and in the Dampier Sub-basin including four for cash bidding. This year, the usual predominance of North West Shelf Release Areas is counterbalanced by seven large areas in the Bight, Otway, Sorell and Gippsland basins. This includes one area in the Ceduna Sub-basin, three areas in the deep water Otway Basin, one area in the northern Sorell Basin and two areas in the south-eastern Gippsland Basin. Receiving nominations for these areas highlights the industry's interest in evaluating the hydrocarbon potential of Australia's underexplored southern margin. Geoscience Australia continues to support industry activities by acquiring, interpreting and integrating pre-competitive datasets that are made freely available as part of the agency's regional petroleum geological studies.

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