Australian oil and gas company Cue Energy Resources has agreed to extend BP’s option to acquire 42.5 percent equity in exploration permit WA-359-P off Australia.
To remind, in October 2016, BP acquired 80 percent equity and the operatorship of WA-409-P from Cue Energy and agreed to fund 100 percent of the work program required under the permit.
The second part of the deal between Cue and BP entailed an option through to May 2017 for BP to acquire 42.5 percent equity in WA-359-P. Cue said on Friday that this option would now run until October 25, 2017.
If BP exercises the option over WA-359-P, 50 percent of the Ironbark well cost will be funded.
The company added that it was seeking a partner or partners to join Cue and BP in WA-359-P license to drill an exploration well in 2018 to test the prospect.
According to Cue, several international companies were currently engaged in the WA-359-P data room process, and the extension will enable the results of 3D seismic reprocessing currently underway to be incorporated into their analyses.
Ironbark Prospect
The Ironbark prospect is a giant Mungaroo Formation prospect that is mapped to an area of up to 400 square kilometers with a best technical estimate of 15 trillion cubic feet of prospective recoverable gas. The prospect straddles WA-359-P and WA-409-P.
Wood Mackenzie estimates that the North West Shelf LNG plant and infrastructure will have spare capacity from 2021. The Ironbark prospect is less than 50 kilometers from the North Rankin platform and near Pluto and Wheatstone LNG infrastructure, providing cost effective commercialization options.