Murphy Oil Corp and Mitsui & Co Ltd are looking to farm out equity in three Bonaparte Basin permits.Â  Murphy is the operator with 60% interest in AC/P57, AC/P58 and AC/P59, which are located in the Vulcan Sub-basin and cover a total of 4,300 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.  All but the northern area of AC/P58 is 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 and AC/P58 lies north of the PTTEP operated Oliver and Audacious oil fields within the northern extent of 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 previously suspended the AC/P57 permit work programme for a 12 month period, in 2017, 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.  In AC/P58 it is planned to extend the seismic coverage to identify further prospects and leads.  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 extended AC/P59 for 12 months by licensing 660 sq km of Cygnus seismic data for around AUD 3.9 million. Cygnus was acquired by Polarcus in 2015/16. Two additional phases of the survey are due to extend the coverage to the north within the basin.  The three 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. Â   In the remaining, non-committed, work programmes, well planning is scheduled to take place between 2018 and 2020, with one optional exploration well in each permit between 2019 and 2021. Water depths across the permits range from around 50 to 500 m and well costs are estimated at around AUD 60 million each (valid at the time of the work commitments registrations).   Within the Vulcan Sub-basin three areas were offered in the 2017 Australia Federal Government Offshore Acreage Release covering a total of 1,252 sq km. The areas were released for bidding on 16 May 2017 under a work programme bidding system and closed on 19 October 2017.   Murphy holds 60% interest and operatorship in AC/P57, AC/P58 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 will be seeking to farm-down equity beginning in early 2018.  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 three Bonaparte Basin permits.  Murphy is the operator with 60% interest in AC/P57, AC/P58 and AC/P59, which are located in the Vulcan Sub-basin and cover a total of 4,300 sq km.