Mr BALDWIN - 1995-08-22
As members would be aware, the Territory government embarked on a major campaign earlier this year to market onshore petroleum exploration opportunities in the Territory. This marketing effort included major industry exhibitions at Adelaide, and at Houston in the United States. Are those marketing activities beginning to show results?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, through the Department of Mines and Energy, the government has amassed a vast databank of geological information which has been published in a series of basin studies. They were promoted at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Convention in Houston, Texas, which was attended by some 6000 delegates earlier this year, and at the Australian Exploration Association exhibition in Adelaide earlier this year.
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As a result of the promotion in Houston, 4 companies have requested further information and 2 have since visited the Northern Territory. That does not seem many, but this is a very competitive business, a business of high costs and very high risk. One of the encouraging pieces of advice that we received, from one of the companies which visited Darwin as a result of our visit to Houston, was that we should continue to provide the kind of information that we have because the Territory has much to offer and there are companies which would be interested in the information that we have available and the exploration areas that are available. I thought that a very useful piece of information from one of the smaller, independent companies. They are the companies that we are targeting. I do not think we have a great opportunity to attract large oil exploration companies onshore in the Northern Territory. Nevertheless, from the point of view of small, independent companies which specialise in specific geological features and areas, we do have something to offer.
Whilst neither of the 2 companies that visited have yet secured exploration permits, one other company confirmed recently that it will embark on an onshore drilling program. Next month, the Australian company, Amity Oil, will commence drilling the Pincomb-1 well in the onshore exploration permit area EP66. Pincomb-1 is located in the onshore Bonaparte Gulf region, near the border of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Mr Coulter: Oil was first discovered in Australia at precisely that point.
Mr REED: At about that point. There is a long history of the presence of oil there, and we can only hope that Amity Oil is successful in its activities next month. It is the first well to be drilled in onshore areas this year. I am advised that another company is planning a wildcat well in the same vicinity.
Currently, the Department of Mines and Energy is assessing a further 5 applications for exploration permits, all within onshore areas. Only 6 exploration wells have been sunk in onshore areas in the Northern Territory over the past 2 years. I think that this reflects an Australia-wide trend of low exploration activity within the onshore areas. As I indicated earlier, that reflects the high costs and the high risk that are involved.
Amity Oil's decision to begin exploration in the area is positive news for the Territory, given the low number of wells sunk in onshore areas over the last few years and the decline that has occurred Australia-wide. However, given the Territory's status as a virtually unexplored frontier, we await the results of its exploration with some interest. Of course, we will continue nationally, and internationally where it is appropriate, to promote the Northern Territory and to put forward the enormous amount of information that the department has amassed in an effort to attract further exploration to the Territory and, hopefully, create further development and job opportunities for Territorians.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, through the Department of Mines and Energy, the government has amassed a vast databank of geological information which has been published in a series of basin studies. They were promoted at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Convention in Houston, Texas, which was attended by some 6000 delegates earlier this year, and at the Australian Exploration Association exhibition in Adelaide earlier this year.
Page 787
As a result of the promotion in Houston, 4 companies have requested further information and 2 have since visited the Northern Territory. That does not seem many, but this is a very competitive business, a business of high costs and very high risk. One of the encouraging pieces of advice that we received, from one of the companies which visited Darwin as a result of our visit to Houston, was that we should continue to provide the kind of information that we have because the Territory has much to offer and there are companies which would be interested in the information that we have available and the exploration areas that are available. I thought that a very useful piece of information from one of the smaller, independent companies. They are the companies that we are targeting. I do not think we have a great opportunity to attract large oil exploration companies onshore in the Northern Territory. Nevertheless, from the point of view of small, independent companies which specialise in specific geological features and areas, we do have something to offer.
Whilst neither of the 2 companies that visited have yet secured exploration permits, one other company confirmed recently that it will embark on an onshore drilling program. Next month, the Australian company, Amity Oil, will commence drilling the Pincomb-1 well in the onshore exploration permit area EP66. Pincomb-1 is located in the onshore Bonaparte Gulf region, near the border of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
Mr Coulter: Oil was first discovered in Australia at precisely that point.
Mr REED: At about that point. There is a long history of the presence of oil there, and we can only hope that Amity Oil is successful in its activities next month. It is the first well to be drilled in onshore areas this year. I am advised that another company is planning a wildcat well in the same vicinity.
Currently, the Department of Mines and Energy is assessing a further 5 applications for exploration permits, all within onshore areas. Only 6 exploration wells have been sunk in onshore areas in the Northern Territory over the past 2 years. I think that this reflects an Australia-wide trend of low exploration activity within the onshore areas. As I indicated earlier, that reflects the high costs and the high risk that are involved.
Amity Oil's decision to begin exploration in the area is positive news for the Territory, given the low number of wells sunk in onshore areas over the last few years and the decline that has occurred Australia-wide. However, given the Territory's status as a virtually unexplored frontier, we await the results of its exploration with some interest. Of course, we will continue nationally, and internationally where it is appropriate, to promote the Northern Territory and to put forward the enormous amount of information that the department has amassed in an effort to attract further exploration to the Territory and, hopefully, create further development and job opportunities for Territorians.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016