“The petroleum sector is the strongest it has been in more than 20 years and we are working to capitalise on this strength through farmouts in order to accelerate our exploration activity in our Cooper Basin, Surat Basin and offshore Otway Basin areas,” said chairman Norm Zillman.
Great Artesian’s most recent farmout agreement was signed with Oilex to initiate drilling in the company’s Otway Basin EPP 27 area.
Zillman told the company’s annual meeting in Sydney on Friday that Great Artesian expected to finalise another farmout agreement involving the South Australian Cooper Basin within the next few days and was currently negotiating with several parties for other farmouts.
The company’s farmouts to date have involved Woodside Energy, Beach Petroleum, Enterprise Energy and Oilex. Two wells were drilled on its own and five by farminees. Total expenditure by farminees is A$17 million, more than twice the amount Great Artesian had spent, according to Zillman.
The company’s Cooper Basin permits covered some of the most productive areas in Australia and interest in these and other tenements had been boosted by high oil prices, Zillman said.
“This interest has come not only from within Australia, but from oil-poor countries as well,” he said.
Since listing on the ASX in mid 2003 Great Artesian has participated in seven wells.
Two of these wells, Paranta-1 and Smegsy-1, resulted in new gas and condensate field discoveries.
The company holds interests in PELs 91, 106 and 107 and in Queensland permits ATP 539, 549 552, as well as in one offshore Otway Basin permit, EPP 27.
