New Exploration Tenders Awarded to Bring More Gas to Market

The Minister for Regional Development and Manufacturing, the Honourable Glenn Butcher has announced four companies have been awarded new exploration tenders to explore areas close to their existing infrastructure to get more gas to market quickly. Minister Butcher said gas from some of the areas was guaranteed to Australian companies to maintain jobs.

“Queensland’s gas and manufacturing industries support more than 200,000 jobs now. Supporting exploration maintains a pipeline of future resources projects and keeps gas flowing to our manufacturers. Any gas from more than 450 km² of this land is guaranteed for the Australian market. That’s gas for feedstock and energy for our manufacturers and their workers,” he said.

The four companies that have won tenders are:

• Comet Ridge who will explore two areas totalling 435 km² for domestic market gas. The areas are to the east and north-east of Comet Ridges’ Mahalo North Project
• Senex Energy who will explore 18 km² for domestic market gas near their existing Project Atlas near Wandoan, as well as 486 km² south east of Theodore
• State Gas who will explore 1414 km² located south-west of Rolleston near their existing Reid’s Dome gas project
• Denison Gas who will explore 668 km² located north of Injune, near their existing Denison South project.

The six new tenders awarded today (2x Comet Ridge, 2x Senex Energy, 1x State Gas and 1x Denison Gas) are part of the Queensland Government’s Tender Package PLR2020-1 (which was opened 14 May, 2020). This tender package, offered as part of the 2020 Queensland Exploration Program, included 12 new areas for petroleum and gas exploration across the Bowen and Surat Basins, covering a total area of 6,746 km².

What does this mean for landholders?

If you’re a landholder in the Surat, Galilee or Bowen Basins and wish to know more about what to expect with gas field developments, the GasFields Commission (the Commission) strongly encourages you to download a copy of our flagship publication, The Gas Guide 2.0, to obtain all the information you need to negotiate a fair and reasonable outcome should a resource company request to operate on your land.

Gas Guide 2.0 catalogues pertinent information that landholders need to know about the various stages of petroleum and gas development in Queensland – beginning with the advertisement and awarding of new exploration tenders (see Chapter 3 – Exploration Phase).

If you have any questions regarding the exploration process, Queensland’s onshore gas industry or you would like to receive a hard copy (ring binder) of The Gas Guide 2.0, please contact us directly via:

• Web: Contact Form
• Phone: (07) 3067 9400
• Email: enquiries@gfcq.org.au

Who are the GasFields Commission Queensland?

Established as an independent statutory body in 2013, the Commission’s purpose is to manage and improve the sustainable coexistence of landholders, regional communities and the onshore gas industry in Queensland. The Commission manages sustainable coexistence in petroleum and gas producing regions of Queensland, and will continue to do so as the industry expands into new and emerging basins.

Our vision is to achieve thriving communities in areas of gas development that are free from discord and supported by well-informed, respectful and balanced stakeholder relationships.

One way the Commission is endeavouring to realise this vision is by providing transparency and independent assurances that the onshore gas industry is appropriately regulated and held to account when needed. This in turn will help cultivate sustainable coexistence, whilst ensuring community and landholder confidence in the regulators and gas industry increases.

Drawing on its wealth of experience in the development of the gas industry and by collaborating with other relevant entities, the Commission provides a range of support to communities and landholders, primarily through education and engagement. These education and engagement activities occur with individual landholders via Commission facilitated webinars, information sessions, publications (The Gas Guide, Shared Landscapes Reports), face-to-face meetings and public workshops.

It should be noted that the Commission does not engage in individual negotiations between landholders and gas companies, but rather provides communities and landholders with the information and support they need to make informed decisions and achieve good outcomes.