Tap Oil Ltd., Perth, has taken out an option agreement with WHL Energy Ltd. to acquire an initial 10% interest in the offshore Victorian Otway basin permit Vic/P67, which contains the La Bella gas-condensate field.
Tap Oil has agreed to pay up to a maximum of $2.95 million for the interest.
This agreement follows a farmout agreement between WHL and AWE Ltd. at the beginning of September under which AWE will pay 75% of the total costs of a 3D seismic survey over La Bella field and surrounding exploration targets. The payment is capped at $9 million for AWE to earn up to 60% in Vic/P67.
Any costs exceeding this amount will be borne by AWE and WHL at 60% and 40%, respectively. Tap Oil will have no further funding obligation for its seismic option above $2.95 million.
The planned 811-sq-km seismic survey will be acquired during this year’s fourth quarter and is aimed at refining the mapping of La Bella field as well as its surrounding prospects, plus some further leads.
La Bella was originally discovered by BHP Petroleum in 1993. The field is estimated to have a contingent resource of 114 petajoules of gas and 1.4 million bbl of condensate.
The field lies 200 km west southwest of Melbourne and is in close proximity to gas pipelines from surrounding Otway fields connecting to onshore gas plants near Port Campbell on the Otway coast.
