On 23 May 2019 Sino Industrial Energy Ltd was awarded exploration licence PPL 645, located onshore Fly Platform. Sino has been awarded the licence for an initial period of six years with the expiry date set as 22 May 2025.  This is the third application and award by Sino alongside PPL 646 and PPL 647, which were also awarded on the same date. The company applied for the licence areas to the Department of Petroleum and Energy (DPE) on 25 July 2018. Given successful completion of the allocated work programme, Sino may be eligible to renew the licence for a further 5 years, with an associated 50% area reduction.    PPL 645 covers an area of 1,440 sq km and covers most of the South Pacific Resources (SPR) licence PPL 366 area, which was awarded in 2010. The licence reached the end of its validity period in 2016 with no known successful renewal applications. SPR now plans to exit PNG and will be offloading their remaining assets. It's thought that PPL 366 will formally be registered as expired.  Over the first two years of the PPL 645 work programme, Sino are required to complete several studies including seismic reprocessing if required, play and concept analysis, and review all offset wells. The second term programme over years 3-4 is yet to be confirmed, but a minimum of 20 km of new 2D seismic data acquisition is outlined ahead of possibly drilling an exploration well in years 5-6.   One well has been drilled within the permit area: Goari 1, 1978. The well targeted Mesozoic Sands in a faulted anticline of the Omati Trough. The sands were poorly developed and the well was drilled within a complex fault zone, probably off structure. Minor oil shows in Lower Imbru were encountered.  Â Sino Industrial Energy Ltd was awarded 100% interest in exploration licence PPL 645 on 23 May 2019.
Papua New Guinea, PPL 646