The Australian Government on Thursday released its first package of offshore oil and gas acreage for bidding since 2022.
All five areas are in the Otway Basin offshore Victoria state in Commonwealth waters and come a day after the Victorian government offered acreage for bidding by companies in state waters.
In 2020, more than 40 areas were offered for bidding - many in the north of the country - and by 2022, only 10 were up for grabs.
The east coast gas market in Australia will face a supply shortfall later this decade and while the areas offered are unlikely to be producing commercial volumes of gas this decade, Canberra hopes it will help stave off later shortfalls.
"Exploration and new discoveries will play an important role in underpinning our energy needs and support Australian industry and households as we meet our net-zero commitments," Resources Minister Madeleine King said.
The Otway Basin is considered a legacy oil and gas basin rather than a new frontier and is home to infrastructure like pipelines and onshore gas processing plants that any new gas discoveries can be tied into.
Australia is about to finalise its gas market review, which aims to address shortfalls in the domestic east coast market while ensuring liquefied natural gas exports from the east coast can continue.
ConocoPhillips and junior partner 3D Energi announced a gas find in the Otway this week and have now begun the second well of their exploration campaign. The US company has a share in one of the three LNG export consortia in Queensland under review by the Australian Government.
"This week we've seen welcome recognition from the Victorian and federal government that continued exploration is critical to maintaining the pipeline of gas supply projects to meet our long-term energy needs," said Samantha McCulloch, CEO of oil and gas lobby group Australian Energy Producers.
Companies may now bid on the acreage with applications to close in June next year.
(Reporting by Helen Clark; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)
