The call coincides with an Australia-wide areas release by Federal Minister for Industry Tourism and Resources , Ian Macfarlane, at the annual conference of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) that is being held in Melbourne.

Mr Brown said 15 areas contained in the Federal release were located in the Commonwealth-Western Australia adjacent area.

"WA is a highly prospective petroleum province and this is reflected in the fact that 15 out of the 41 Federal releases were allocated to the State," the Minister said.

The six WA release areas are located in coastal waters or onshore within the Bonaparte, Carnarvon and Perth Basins.

Bids for nine of the Commonwealth-Western Australia adjacent areas close on September 25, with the remaining six closing on March 25, 2004. WA coastal waters and onshore release areas close on September 18.

The Minister said all areas are subject to the work program bidding system and the successful applicants will be offered exploration permits for initial terms of six years.

Information packages about the Commonwealth-Western Australian release areas are available from Greg Lawrence on 9222 3572 or on CD-ROM, which can be requested from petroleum.exploration@industry.gov.au

Information about WA's release areas is available from the Department of Industry and Resources' Web site at: http://www.doir.wa.gov.au

A CD-ROM on the release areas is also available from the Department's Petroleum Division on 9222 3622.