PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Federal Resources and Water Minister Keith Pitt on Tuesday said that exploration on the Beetaloo basin would continue, despite a looming Federal Court case.
The Environment Centre of the Northern Territory lodged an application to the Federal Court on July 28 to have the Beetaloo Cooperative Drilling Program and associated grant decisions set aside.
The matter is currently progressing through Federal Court processes.
Pitt said the Beetaloo Cooperative Drilling Program was a key measure under the Beetaloo Strategic Basin Plan and is crucial to the government’s Gas Fired Recovery agenda.
“I have requested my Department to proceed with the grant to Imperial Oil and Gas that I announced on July 7. It is important that we continue to get on with the job. This project, along with other activity in the Beetaloo basin, has the potential to create over 6 000 jobs and make a significant contribution to secure Australia’s affordable and reliable energy supplies.
“I have also instructed my department to continue with the assessment of other applications to the Beetaloo Cooperative Drilling Program.”
Under the A$50-million Beetaloo Cooperative Drilling Program, grants of up to A$7.5-million per well are available to applicants. Three grants to Imperial Oil and Gas would provide up to A$21-million to support three new exploration wells in the company’s EP187 exploration zone in the basin’s east.
The Environment Center for the Northern Territory has claimed that gas production in the Beetaloo basin could increase Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 20%.