Private exploration company Finder Exploration has entered into a farm-out agreement which provides for Woodside to earn a 90% participating interest in exploration permit WA-520-P offshore Australia.
Finder said last Friday that the operatorship of the permit would be transferred from its subsidiary Finder No 10 Pty Ltd to Woodside.
The company added that Finder would retain a ten percent share in the license.
Exploration permit WA-520-P was awarded on September 21, 2015. The permit straddles the boundary between the Exmouth Sub-basin and Exmouth Plateau of the Northern Carnarvon Basin, offshore Western Australia. The permit, located 200 kilometers west of Dampier, contains the Zeepaard-1 gas discovery.
Finder CEO, Shane Westlake , said “We are delighted to partner with Woodside, a proven operator with a direct pathway for commercialization of future discoveries.
“From our acreage review, we identified large multi-TCF Triassic gas and large Cretaceous oil prospects. We are now looking forward to working with Woodside on the new Isometrix Exmouth MC3D seismic data acquired earlier in the year with processing expected to be finished in May 2018.
“The permit is ideally located amongst some of the largest gas discoveries on the North West Shelf and this transaction is another step towards becoming a leading explorer in the region.”
The company also said that it was planning significant activities over the next two years, including five “high impact” exploration wells.