April 2014
 2014 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release
 Preparing a bid for an acreage release area
 2015 Acreage Release nominations – open
 2013 Acreage Release:
 Round 1 re-release areas
 Round 2 exploration opportunities - open
 Are you on our distribution list?
2014 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release
Today the Minister for Industry, the Hon Ian Macfarlane MP, launched the 2014 Offshore
Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release at the 2014 APPEA Conference in Perth. The Release
comprises 30 areas across four basins in Commonwealth waters offshore the Northern Territory,
Western Australia and the Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands. Twenty six areas are available
for work program bidding and four areas are available for cash bidding.
The areas vary in size from one graticular block—80 km2—to 360 graticular blocks—25,765 km2—
are located in a range of water depths and vary in size and level of existing geological knowledge.
All release areas are supported by precompetitive geological and geophysical data and analysis
undertaken by Geoscience Australia and information on third party rights or other considerations
that may impact upon future petroleum activities in a release area.
In 2014, the Acreage Release includes select areas for cash bidding. Cash bidding aims to provide
an equitable, economically efficient and administratively simple system of permit allocation for
known and mature areas where only minimal further exploration may be required.
More information on cash bidding can be found in the legislation, the Commonwealth Gazettal
Notice, the Cash Bidding Guideline and on the petroleum acreage website.
The 2014 Release Areas, rounds and dates:
Rounds
Areas
Bid Close
Round 1 work
program
(14 areas)
NT14-1, NT14-2, NT14-3, AC14-2,
AC14-3, AC14-4, W14-2, W14-3, W14-4,
W14-5, W14-7, W14-14, W14-15, W14-16.
Thursday 2 October 2014
Cash Bid Round
(4 areas)
W14-20, W14-21, W14-22, W14-23
Prequalification:
Thursday 30 October 2014
Cash Bid*:
Thursday 5 February 2015
Round 2 work
program
(12 areas)
AC14-1, W14-1, W14-6, W14-8, W14-9,
W14-10, W14-11, W14-12, W14-13, W14-17,
W14-18, W14-19.
Thursday 2 April 2015
* Only prequalified applicants will be invited to submit a cash bid.
Detailed information on the 2014 Acreage Release can be found online or by emailing
petroleum.exploration@industry.gov.au. Information available contains:





2014 Release Areas and geological information
guidance for exploring, bidding and investing in Australia
fact sheets to assist in the bidding process
supporting products, information and links
2015 Acreage Release nomination details.
Please note the website contains the most up to date information.
Geoscience Australia provides precompetitive geological data associated with the release areas at
the cost of transfer; the data package can be ordered by emailing ausgeodata@ga.gov.au.
Preparing a bid for an acreage release area
To assist with preparing bids for acreage release areas, the offshore exploration guidelines, the
Requirements of Bid and Renewal Applications Guideline and the Cash Bidding Guideline, can be
found on the NOPTA website. The offshore exploration guidelines do not replace the Offshore
Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 and before preparing a bid, applicants are
encouraged to review the legislation.
2015 Acreage Release Nominations - OPEN
Industry stakeholders are invited to nominate vacant offshore areas to be considered for release
in 2015. The area nomination process for the 2015 Acreage Release will close on Monday 30 June
2014.
www.petroleum-acreage.gov.au
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Nominations are treated as commercial-in-confidence and should be submitted electronically on
the approved template to petroleum.exploration@industry.gov.au. A factsheet on nominating an
area is also available and the Australian Government encourages all potential nominees to review
the factsheet.
Release areas are carefully selected to offer a range of investment opportunities. Areas selected
for inclusion in the Release will vary in size, known prospectivity, water depth and level of existing
geological data and knowledge. Nomination of an area does not guarantee its inclusion; all
nominations are subjected to a rigorous assessment and short listing process. This may take into
account factors such as:
 previous interest in and exploration undertaken in the nominated areas
 whether there is a new geoscientific story or a new market development such as, domestic
demand changes or an opportunity for early commercialisation of finds that might generate
the interest of potential bidders
 any potential adverse impact on current offshore petroleum exploration acreage release
areas bidding rounds
 ongoing precompetitive studies by Geoscience Australia - it is Government practice to allow
precompetitive geoscientific data collection programs to conclude prior to the release of
acreage
 international maritime boundary negotiations
 Commonwealth marine reserves network
 any matters deemed relevant by the state or territory within waters adjacent to the
proposed release area(s), such as sensitive coastal areas or impacts on marine industries.
The Australian Government will determine if a nominated area is suitable for cash bidding or work
program bidding.
2013 Round 1 Re-release Areas
The Australian Government invites work program bids for exploration permits in respect of three
re-release areas from Round 1 of the 2013 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release. The
re-release areas are:
Area
Basin
Sub-Basin
W13-15
Northern Carnarvon
Investigator
W13-16 and W13-17
Northern Carnarvon
Exmouth
Areas NT13-4 and W13-14 have not been re-released and have reverted to vacant acreage.
Work program bidding for re-release areas will close on Thursday 2 October 2014.
Further information is available in the Commonwealth Gazette Notice.
www.petroleum-acreage.gov.au
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Current exploration opportunities
Round 2 of the 2013 Acreage Release closes Thursday 22 May 2014. This includes re-release areas
from Round 2 of the 2012 Acreage Release. Entities that have entered into a Good Standing
Arrangement with the Joint Authority are encouraged to review the re-release areas. It is the
responsibility of entities that have entered into a Good Standing Arrangement to maintain good
standing with the Joint Authority.
Geoscience Australia provides pre-competitive geological data associated with the release areas at
the cost of transfer. Data packages can be ordered by emailing ausgeodata@ga.gov.au
Information packages are available online or by emailing petroleum.exploration@industry.gov.au
The areas currently available for bidding are as follows:
Area
Basin
Sub-Basin
NT13-1, NT13-2 and NT13-3
Bonaparte
Northern Petrel
W13-4 and W13-5
Browse
Barcoo
W13-6, W13-7 and W13-8
Northern Carnarvon
Exmouth Plateau
W13-19 and W13-20
North Perth
Houtman and Abrolhos
V13-2
Gippsland
T12-2
Sorrell
V12-3
Gippsland
W12-7
Browse
Scott Plateau
W12-11
Northern Carnarvon
Exmouth Plateau
Sandy Cape and Strahan
Are you on our distribution list?
This newsletter is prepared by the Offshore Exploration Section, Resources Division, Department
of Industry.
If you or your colleagues would like to receive this newsletter, please send your email address to:
petroleum.exploration@industry.gov.au alternatively, if you would like to be removed from the
distribution list, please email with the subject line ‘Remove’.
If you change your email address please notify the Offshore Exploration Section.
There is no charge for this service. This distribution list is not used for purposes other than
notifying registered parties of relevant petroleum issues.
Postal Address:
E-mail:
Website:
GPO Box 1564, CANBERRA ACT 2601, AUSTRALIA
petroleum.exploration@industry.gov.au
www.petroleum-acreage.gov.au
www.petroleum-acreage.gov.au
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