On 17 July 2018 Oil Search Ltd reported that the farm-in agreement with ExxonMobil Corp for licences surrounding the Elk-Antelope fields, is now complete. The deal sees Oil Search expand its onshore acreage in the Papuan Basin which is thought to hold prospectively on trend with carbonate plays analogous to Elk-Antelope. Oil Search has acquired 25% interest in exploration licences PPLs 474, 475 and 476, plus retention lease PRL 39. Exxon previously held 100% interest in all licences after the takeover of InterOil in 2017.  Oil Search considers the acreage to be on trend with existing gas plays and with potential for new plays close to existing infrastructure. The transaction is in line with Oil Searchâs focus on expanding exploration potential to support the expansion of LNG projects. In doing so, Oil Search reported that the companyâs exploration and appraisal budget for 2017 increased from USD 250-300 to USD 270-320 million which included the continued appraisal of the Muruk discovery.  The northern acreage entered into by Oil Search surrounds the Elk-Antelope field which provides the basis for the proposed Papua LNG Project, in which, ExxonMobil already holds 35% interest and Oil Search 22.8% interest in the Total operated project. This acreage includes the large gas fields Triceratops, Bobcat and Raptor. To the south, down the Aure Fold Belt, Tovala gas discovery adds validation to a working petroleum system in along the coast in PPL 474. The discovered resources within the farm-in area sees Oil Search add 2P recoverable reserves of around 600 MMboe (net) to its PNG portfolio and increases its net acreage along the carbonate plays from onshore Elk-Antelope to the offshore Gulf licences adjacent by around 32%.     Since the farm in agreement was announced by Oil Search on 29 May 2017, several proposed terms have not been brought through to completion. Initially Oil Search proposed to acquire 30% interest but this was revised to 25%. PPL 477 was also included in the agreement but was later dropped due to a lack of perceived prospectively in the licence area. Finally, Oil Search was to undertake a seismic programme to acquire data in 2017/18 on behalf of ExxonMobil. However, an Oil Search operated 2D seismic programme, which commenced in March 2018, is not thought to be part of the final farm-in agreement but covers around 200 km over permits PPL 475, 476 and PRL 39. The data is being acquired to mature a number of leads and identify prospect information to be used in future drilling programmes.Â  Â   Oil Search has completed a farm-in deal with Exxon Mobil to acquire 25% interest in PPLs 474, 475, 476 and PRL 39. Exxon Mobil continues as operator with 75% interest.
Oil Search (->55%) has bought a 25% stake in the PPLs 474, 475 and 476 and PRL 39 from ExxonMobil (->45% op.).