Eastern Star will earn that interest by completing the work program for the rest of this year and all of next, consisting of seismic reprocessing and acquisition of new seismic data.
Molopo has committed to the farm out in order to concentrate its resources on its southern Queensland assets.
“Farming-out Molopo’s Clarence – Moreton acreage will allow us to concentrate our resources on the continued development of the Mungi gas field in Queensland and the appraisal of our Gloucester Basin interests in NSW,” said Molopo’s director of operations David Casey.
PELs 13 and 426 cover an area of 6,314sq.km in the NSW portion of the Clarence Moreton Basin in the north east of the state, surrounding Grafton. Earlier exploration in the area identified a number of structures some of which have tested gas at up to 500 million cubic feet per day from conventional reservoirs.
The area also contains extensive coal seams which provide additional opportunities to produce coal bed methane.
Both permits are about 300km north east of Eastern Star’s PEL 238 which contains the Coonarah Gas Field and the Wilga Park Power Station. The company feels that a commercial discovery of gas could be developed to supply energy to Grafton and nearby regional towns, including Casino and Lismore.
