Australia: Magellan to shoot seismic on Bonaparte block

Magellan Petroleum Corp., Denver, let a contract to Seabird Exploration FZ-LLC for the seismic recording vessel Voyager Explorer to undertake a 75 sq mile 3D and an 84 mile 2D seismic survey on Magellan’s NT/P82 exploration permit in the Bonaparte basin offshore Australia.

Shooting is to take 2 weeks starting in the second week of December 2012, and interpretation is expected to take the following 3 months.

Magellan has 100% interest in NT/P82, which lies in 55-400 ft of water 160 miles northwest of Darwin.

Under license terms and pending seismic results, Magellan is required to drill a well by May 2015. The company expects to incur $4.5 million to shoot, process, and analyze the seismic.