On 2 January 2018 the sale of Tap Oil Ltdâs interest in retention lease WA-33-R retention lease, located in the Barrow Sub-basin, North Carnarvon Basin, to joint venture partner Santos Ltd was registered by the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA).Â  Tap Oil no longer holds any interest in the licence, with Santos now holding sole interest and operatorship, through subsidiaries Quadrant Oil Australia Pty Ltd and Santos (BOL) Pty Ltd.  Tap entered into a sale and purchase agreement to sell its 22.474% interest in the licence on 30 November 2018.Â  Quadrant and Santos acquired this interest, which was subject to regulatory approval.Â  The sale of Tapâs interest has an effective date of 1 July 2018.  Santos and Quadrant previously increased their respective shares in the permit when, on 19 November 2018, Hydra Energy (WA) Pty Ltd withdrew from WA-33-L.Â  Hydra assigned its 10% interest in the permit to joint venture partners Quadrant Energy and Santos Ltd.  In line with the Hydra and Tap deals, Santos undertook rearranging of the interest holdings in the permit. Now that the withdrawal of both previous holders is complete, interest holdings have become Quadrant Oil Australia Pty Ltd (55% + Operator) and Santos (BOL) Pty Ltd (45%).Â  However, Quadrant is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Santos, after a takeover, so Santos effectively holds 100% interest in the permit.  The withdrawal of Tap was part of a wider strategy to divest its Australian portfolio after completion of a strategic review of all assets. In February 2018 the new Tap Oil Board concluded that, to achieve a low risk, moderate return strategy, it would focus on the producing Manora asset in Thailand and monetize its Australian portfolio to establish a âsimpler and leanerâ company.  WA-33-R covers an area of 321Â sqÂ km in water depths less than 100Â m. The southern area of the Maitland gas discovery (the northern area lays within WA-214-P, also operated by Quadrant) is located in the licence. The Maitland discovery is yet to be developed. WA-33-R was awarded in 2004 and is scheduled to expire or be renewed on 21 December 2020. Several pipelines, including the Jansz-Barrow Island gas line, already transect the Maitland area.Â  The existing John Brookes platform lies 12Â km from Maitland. Gas could also be processed via East Spar Joint Venture, with the East Spar line just 17Â km to the south.   WA-33-R is extensively covered by 3D seismic data and Tap expects several further prospects outside of the Maitland field. Work commitments within the lease have been minimal with geotechnical, engineering and marketing studies totaling AUD 100,000 by November 2014.
On 2 January 2018 the sale of Tap Oil Ltdâs interest in retention lease WA-33-R retention lease, located in the Barrow Sub-basin, North Carnarvon Basin, to joint venture partner Santos Ltd was registered by the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (NOPTA).  