The four new permits comprise:

• Permit WA-380-P (released as W05-23) and Permit WA-379-P (released as W05-24), both located in the Bremer Sub-basin off southern Western Australia, granted to British company Plectrum Petroleum;

• Permit WA-378-P (released as W05-5) in the Browse Basin about 70km southwest of the Brecknock gas field, granted to Woodside Energy; and

• Permit EPP36 (released as S05-2) in the Otway Basin off South Australia, granted to Exoil, Gascorp Australia, Moby Oil and Gas, and National Energy.

The uptake of designated frontier areas reflected the Federal Government’s effort to focus the hunt for ‘new oil’ in Australia’s largely under-explored regions, according to Macfarlane.

“Since 2004, a total of seven permits in designated frontier areas have been awarded from 11 areas released, with a total indicative work program of $176 million,” he said.

“Designated frontier area permits qualify for a taxation deduction of 150% of exploration expenditure for petroleum resources rent tax purposes, providing an incentive for frontier exploration.”

The two frontier permits in the Bremer Sub-basin are the direct result of pre-competitive work by Geoscience Australia.

“Geoscience Australia data is highly regarded by companies when assessing new areas," Macfarlane said.

The Government’s announcement last week of an extra $76.4 million in funding to Geoscience Australia was aimed at ensuring the global exploration industry had continued access to up-to-date pre-competitive data over Australian offshore frontier areas.

This new funding builds on the $61 million previously provided by the Government to Geoscience Australia for pre-competitive data acquisition and remastering of existing seismic data for use in acreage release areas.

The Australian Government will administer the new permits jointly with the respective state governments.