Contained in water depth range of around 60-500m, the awarded block is located close to Laminaria oil field and other discovered and developed oil fields

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Image: Inpex, which is the operator of the Ichthys LNG project, has won an exploration block in the Bonaparte Basin. Photo: courtesy of INPEX Australia.

Japanese oil and gas firm Inpex said that one of its subsidiaries has bagged an exploration permit for the offshore block AC/P66 in Australia’s Bonaparte Basin.

The AC/P66 block, which spans 3,460km, is located on the North West Shelf of Australia. It was awarded to the Inpex subsidiary under the 2018 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release.

The Japanese firm will have a 100% participating stake in the offshore Australian block where it plans to undertake exploration activities.

Contained in a water depth range of nearly 60-500m, the AC/P66 block is located close to the Laminaria oil field and other discovered and developed oil fields. The Japanese firm said that the AC/P66 block is located is a promising area where there is potential for new hydrocarbon discoveries to be made.

The company, in a statement, said: “The “sustainable growth of oil and natural gas E&P activities” is one of the company’s goals outlined in Vision 2040, and the North West Shelf of Australia is positioned as one of Inpex’s priority exploration areas. The awarding of the Block is aligned to Inpex’s strategic policies.”

Inpex activities in Australia

Inpex is already engaged in various oil and natural gas development projects in Australia with its activities confined to the Timor Sea and the Carnarvon, Browse and Bonaparte basins. Included in these is the producing Ichthys liquefied natural gas project (Ichthys LNG project), located about 220km off the Western Australian coast, where the company is the operator with a stake of 66.245%.

The Japanese company signed a deal in December 2018 with Total to acquire an additional stake of 4% from the latter in the offshore LNG project for $1.6bn (£1.27bn).

Last month, the company reported that the Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas facility (Prelude FLNG facility), located in Block WA-44-L offshore Western Australia, shipped its first LNG cargo. Inpex holds a stake of 17.5% in the floating LNG project, which is operated by Royal Dutch Shell.

The Japanese company is also involved in the Bayu-Undan/Darwin LNG and Van Gogh projects along with the development of the Ravensworth, Coniston and Kitan oil fields.