Sita was granted permit Vic-P59 which was offered recently as V03-3 and which contains the Angler gas and condensate discovery, drilled by PetroFina in 1989.

Esso and BHP Billiton operate the Blackback and Terakihi fields in the adjacent Vic-L20.

Sita has Indian backers and some exploration acreage in the Philippines.

Earlier this year Sita’s CEO Kumar Bhattacharjee flagged an upswing in the company’s exploration activities due to increased investor interest.

"It is very encouraging for us to get the capital because we are capital-starved, being a small independent," he explained. "There is plenty of oil and gas to find, the question is the capital."

Looking after Sita’s development in Australia is vice president business development, John Lopez, currently based in Houston.