PERTH (miningweekly.com) - The Australian government has announced the first grants under the A$50-million Beetaloo cooperative drilling programme to help accelerate development of gas projects in the Northern Territory.
Minister for Resources and Water Keith Pitt has said the 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.
Under the Beetaloo cooperative drilling programme, grants of up to A$7.5-million per well are available to applicants.
Further grants are expected to be announced in the coming months.
“The Beetaloo sub-basin is potentially a world-class gas resource which could create thousands of jobs and help bolster supplies of gas for the domestic market and for exports around the world,” Pitt said.
“The government announced the new strategic basin plan for the Beetaloo sub-basin in December, with the aim of speeding up investment, exploration and development to unlock jobs and resources under the gas-fired recovery programme.
“Grants under the Beetaloo cooperative drilling programme are expected to deliver several additional exploration wells by 2022 and bring forward at least A$150-million in private investment in the basin.”
Pitt said development in the Beetaloo sub-basin could transform the Northern Territory economy and generate up to 6 000 jobs, mostly in the Territory, by 2040.