Samson will be earning between 50%-60% interests from its $10.55 million exploration spend in the Sunshine licences in Queensland. This is the Australian market entry for Samson.

“Samson’s commitment confirms that the areas are highly prospective and worth considerable financial investment and attention,” said Sunshine Gas executive chairman John Towner.

An accelerated work program is being finalised to commence appraisal of Overston 1 in the next few weeks. This discovery was Sunshine’s first well since listing on the ASX.

Towner said, “The work program will mean that we will have definitive results on the flow rates from the Overston 1 area within weeks which will tell us exactly how much gas there is and bring us to the crucial planning for production phase by December 2003.

“By Samson covering our exploration costs on these licenses, we can focus our efforts on looking for other acquisitions where we know we can add significant value,” said Towner.

The agreement covers the bulk of Sunshine Gas’ government commitments with Samson exploring and appraising all of Sunshine’s licence areas.