Offshore petroleum exploration acreage release process

The government releases areas in Australian waters for oil and gas exploration each year.

Subscribe to Australian Petroleum News for information on acreage bidding rounds, and for updates on offshore oil and gas matters in Australian waters. Oil and gas companies can participate in the acreage release by:

suggesting areas for future exploration in the nomination process
bidding to explore release areas

Anyone who has an interest in areas that may be released for bidding can have their say during the consultation phase in February and March each year. The acreage release is launched in July, with bidding closing in March of the next year.

Nominate areas for future exploration

The offshore petroleum industry is invited to shape the acreage release each year. They can submit nominations for release areas to be considered.

Nominations for the 2020 acreage release are open until February 2020. Nominations received after this will be fed into the next acreage release process.

Before you start

Please consider that nominating many release areas can create concerns from other marine users, and impact community acceptance of the offshore petroleum industry.

Nominations should demonstrate a genuine intent to start activities in the immediate term. As a guide:

if you represent an exploration and production company, your nomination would indicate a strong interest in exploring the area and potentially bidding in the next scheduled acreage release
if you represent a geophysical company, you are expected to have recent non-exclusive data products over the nominated area available during the next July to March bidding period.

There aren’t any restrictions on the number of nominations you can put forward, however the government may change this if:

areas are not routinely bid on
nominations consistently lack a well-considered rationale

The Joint Authorities must endorse release areas before they can progress to the bidding rounds. The Joint Authority is generally made up of the responsible federal minister and the relevant state or Northern Territory minister.

Submit a nomination

Complete the online nomination form on business.gov.au

Nominations generally progress to the public consultation phase.

Areas, or parts of areas, may be excluded for national security or legal reasons. For example, if a nominated area extends into a green or yellow Australian marine park zone.

Areas may also be excluded where precompetitive open-file studies of the geology or other features of the area are being undertaken.

Consultation on release areas

Before areas are released for bidding, the government undertakes a consultation process. We seek feedback from anyone who has an interest in a specific area and can provide information relevant to exploration in that area. This includes:

other government agencies
the public
other marine users, like the fishing, aquaculture and tourism industries

Consultation usually takes place in February and March each year. The consultation process is undertaken on our Consultation Hub. To be notified of upcoming consultations subscribe to the Australian Petroleum News.

Consultation informs the Joint Authorities’ decision to release nominated areas. It also helps companies understand factors they may need to consider when applying for and working in an area.

Bidding for exploration permits

The Joint Authorities invite companies to bid on release areas. Areas available for bidding, and bid due dates, are published in the Australian Government Gazette.

See the 2018 acreage release areas.
The next bidding round is expected to open in July 2019 and is expected to close in March 2020. You can subscribe to the Australian Petroleum News for updates.

Planning your work bid

When planning your work bid, you may want to:

view all offshore petroleum titles, instruments and work program activities in the National Electronic Approvals Tracking System
consider the comments provided by the public and other marine users during the consultation phase
see bidding criteria and information about how to apply in the Offshore petroleum exploration guideline on the NOPTA website
view Geoscience Australia’s interactive maps for the correct map sheet references and graticular blocks

International investors may need to seek approval from the Australian Treasurer. See foreign investment for mining requirements on the Foreign Investment Review Board website.

Assessing work bids

NOPTA assesses bids against the Offshore petroleum exploration guideline to determine which work program best meets the criteria. They provide advice to the Joint Authorities who make the decision on successful bids.