Murphy Oil Corp and Mitsui & Co Ltd are looking to farm out equity in two Bonaparte Basin permits.Â  Murphy is the operator with 60% interest in AC/P57 and AC/P59, which are located in the Vulcan Sub-basin and cover a total of 1,508 sq km. Joint venture partner Mitsui holds the remaining 40% interest in the permits. Both companies are looking to farm-down around half of their respective interests in return for assistance in funding the future exploration programmes.  As of early January 2019 it is thought the companies were looking to conclude the farm-out process. No deals have yet been announced for the acreage. Murphy had been finalising prospect mapping across the acreage before releasing the permits for farm-in early-2018. A data room was opened in Perth from March 2018. Interested parties must book to access and sign a confidentiality agreement.  Both areas are fully covered by 3D seismic data with tie-in wells. AC/P59 crosses the Caswell and Vulcan sub-basins between the Crux gas discovery, the Sinopec operated Puffin field and PTTEP operated Montara, Skua and Swift oil fields. AC/P57 lies directly east of the Puffin field within the Vulcan Sub-basin.  Murphy considers the permits to be prospective for oil accumulations. Through 18 oil discoveries across the Sub-basin, around 380 MMb oil on a 2P recoverable basis has already been discovered, primarily in the Plover, Vulcan and Puffin sandstones across both stratigraphic plays and structural plays, including unconformities, tilted fault blocks and anticlines. Gas reserves in the basin are around 6 Tcf.  In AC/P57 leads have been identified with the potential for recoverable resources of 160 MMb. Murphy has suspended the AC/P57 permit work programme twice since being awarded in 2014 to facilitating time to licence 284 sq km of New Broadband Long Cable Cygnus 3D seismic data over the south east of the permit, at a cost of around AUD 1.97 million, and reprocess the data at an additional cost of AUD 250,000. One exploration well is scheduled in term six in 2021/22.  AC/P59 has the primary two prospects in the assets, with Hawking, an anticlinal prospect, and Fisher, a tilted fault block.Â  Murphy reports it has estimated potential recoverable resources of 350 MMb. The joint venture has made three variations to the work programme since being awarded in 2015. During 2016 Murphy suspended the programme, allowing time to conduct PSTM and PSDM 3D seismic processing of the Cygnus 3D MSS seismic data at an estimated cost of AUD 585,000. During the latest suspension in 2019, Murphy will interpret the data under the original work terms and added a series of seismic related activities, including: reprocessing, AVO analysis and PSDM velocity studies. The first exploration well is scheduled in term 5 â to be drilled in 202/22, at a forecasted cost of AUD 60 million.    The Cygnus 3D MSS seismic survey was conducted by Polarcus between December 2015 and December 2017, in three phases.Â  Polarcus reported that it considered previous seismic acquisition had been sub-optimal and that it did not fully addressed the geological and geophysical challenges within the units of the basin. Subsequently, over 7,000 sq km of data was acquired during the Cygnus survey to address this.     The permits were awarded to Murphy with joint venture partner Mitsui on a 50% equity split, in 2014/15. Murphy increased its holding to 60% in 2015. Water depths across the permits range from around 50 to 500 m.   Murphy holds 60% interest and operatorship in AC/P57 and AC/P59 through subsidiary company Murphy Australia Oil Pty Ltd. Joint venture partner Mitsui holds the remaining 40% interest in each permit through its subsidiary Mitsui E&P Australia Pty Ltd. Both companies have been seeking to farm-down equity since early 2018.  AC/P58 was originally included in the farm-out, but the JV applied to surrender the permit in June 2019. AC/P58 lies north of the PTTEP operated Oliver and Audacious oil fields within the northern extent of the Vulcan Sub-basin. In AC/P58, it was planned to extend the seismic coverage to identify further prospects and leads.  Companies interested in pursuing this opportunity should contact:    Paul Carroll, Exploration Manager â Murphy Oil Corp    Tel: +61 8 6313 5200    Email: paul_carroll@murphyoilcorp.com
Murphy Oil Corp and Mitsui & Co Ltd are looking to farm out equity in two Bonaparte Basin permits.  Murphy is the operator with 60% interest in AC/P57 and AC/P59, which are located in the Vulcan Sub-basin and cover a total of 1,508 sq km. 