The areas being made available for open bidding by the industry include two leases off the Northern Territory, 24 areas off Western Australia, one permit off the Ashmore and Cartier Islands, and 2 areas off South Australia.

Federal industry and resources minister Ian Macfarlane said the new acreage release was part of the government’s strategy to encourage more exploration of Australia's vast offshore sedimentary basins.

“We have a vast continental shelf, much of which remains under-explored,” Macfarlane said.

“There are compelling opportunities for exploration companies of all sizes to look at these new releases which range from mature to frontier basins.”

The 2005 release includes five Designated Frontier Areas subject to the 150% frontier tax concession incentive announced in last year’s budget.

“This generous incentive is designed to rebalance the reward-to-risk scales in the investor’s favour in remote unexplored areas - areas where a major new petroleum province could be found,” said Macfarlane.

Bids for 15 of the 29 new areas will close on 20 October 2005. The remainder will close on 20 April 2006. All bids will be assessed under the work program bidding system and any subsequent exploration permits will be awarded for an initial term of six years.

Maps showing the locations of these areas can be found at www.industry.gov.au/petexp

Details of all the release areas, including closing dates for bids, can be found by requesting the release package at petroleum.exploration@industry.gov.au or at the Departmental website: www.industry.gov.au/petexp