Federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane jointly announced the awards with the Tasmanian Resources Minister, Paul Lennon, South Australian Mineral Resources Development Minister, Paul Holloway and Western Australian State Development Minister, Clive Brown.
"Two of the permits are close to recently discovered giant gas accumulations and have potential for significant petroleum discoveries," said Macfarlane.
In Western Australia's commercially proven Carnarvon Basin, permit WA-350-P was awarded to Woodside Energy and permit WA-351-P awarded to BHPBilliton Petroleum.
Permit T/36P was awarded to Santos and Unocal South Australia and is located in the Sorell Basin off the western coast of Tasmania in a lightly explored area with intriguing signs of oil and large structures capable of trapping petroleum.
Permit EPP 33 in the Otway Basin off South Australia, was awarded to two Kerr-McGee subsidiaries. The permit covers deep water areas where there has been very little exploration.
Permit WA-349-P was awarded to Voyager Energy subsidiary, Chimelle Petroleum. This permit is in the Perth Basin and is close to significant new oil discoveries, gas pipelines and other infrastructure.
"These permits, which cover a range of prospectivities and water depths, provide significant opportunities for the industry in the search for new petroleum resources. They will help enhance the future energy supplies of Australia," said Macfarlane.
"The proposed work programs for these new areas are extensive, involving the collection of new seismic data over thousands of kilometres. A number of exploratory wells will also be sunk," he said.
Maps of the permit areas can be found at www.industry.gov.au/acreage releases.
