Leigh Creek Energy (LCK) has been awarded petroleum exploration licence 676 in key South Australian Cooper Basin oil and gas acreage.
South Australian Minister of Energy and Mining Dan van Holst Pellekaan awarded the petroleum exploration license to LCK subsidiary Leigh Creek Oil and Gas (LCOG).
The company advised that the next steps include a farm down followed by drilling of exploration wells.
Managing director Phil Staveley said LCK’s portfolio of Cooper Basin exploration permits allow the company to diversify activities with a secondary development project which complements the Leigh Creek Energy Project (LCEP).
“While building the LCEP remains our ongoing focus the grant of PEL 676 illustrates our continued progress on our portfolio diversification strategy and the ongoing support of the South Australian Government,” he said.
LCOG has a diversified portfolio of assets which includes oil and gas interests in the Cooper and Eromanga Basins.
The Cooper Basin was selected by LCK as an area to invest in as it provides a low cost of entry, relatively low risk, potential for near-term revenue as well as a favourable and stable regulator in the South Australian and Queensland governments.
LCOG previously identified prospective areas in the Cooper Basin that aligned with its strategy of providing opportunities to explore for oil and gas at a relatively low capital cost given the proximity to existing infrastructure.
The areas of interest have a stratigraphy that mirrors the Western Flank oil fairway and target oil accumulations in the Birkhead Formation and Hutton Sandstone.
In addition, progress continues on other oil and gas interests in these Basins including the application for a PEL on petroleum exploration license application (PELA) 675, the farm-in on authority to prospect (ATP) 2023 and ATP 2024, which are held by Bridgeport Energy as operator and on which LCOG has an interest, and exploring opportunities to expand the oil and gas portfolio.
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