Sunshine said Overston had the potential to contain large volumes of gas, and the company wanted to double its 50% stake in the field and make itself the wholly-owned operator in order to speed up development of the project.
Technical and strategic reasons, and the speed at which the field was being developed, caused the attempt to get the half-share from operator Samson, it said in a release.
“Samson has been a good operator, but they’re not operating at a pace we’d like. This will give us the opportunity to explore faster,” Sunshine Gas company secretary Chris Blamey said.
Under the proposal signed on Tuesday, Sunshine would take the remaining part of the interest in the ATP 645P permit that covers the field.
The farmin would cost A$4.7 million, leaving Sunshine with cash reserves of A$5 million, the directors said.
About six million options held by Samson for shares in Sunshine at $0.20 a share would also be cancelled.
Sunshine’s operations focuses on conventional gas, oil and coal seam gas exploration and production in Queensland.
It has interests in 16 petroleum leases and 13 authorities to prospect for petroleum spread over 37,000 square kilometres from the area near Roma - where the company is also in joint venture with Santos – north towards Townsville.
The proposed farmin is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.
