Perth-based oil and gas explorer Tap Oil is entering the shale gas arena, after signing an agreement with privately-owned Rusa Resources to explore acreage in the onshore Carnarvon Basin.
The deal covers two special prospecting authority applications covering a combined area of 38,000 square kilometres in the Carnarvon Basin, located in close proximity to the Dampier to Bunbury natural gas pipeline.
Under the agreement, exploration work such as geochemical surveys will be carried out in joint venture between the two companies to determine the preferred acreage for conversion to exploration permits.
Tap said the main targets of its exploration would be Permian shale gas and Devonian shale oil, while the acreage also had conventional oil and gas potential.
Tap Oil managing director Troy Hayden said the agreement with Rusa provided the company with early stage exposure to shale gas assets in the Carnarvon Basin.
“We have been actively working on new ventures and business development for a long time and affordable, commercially and technically attractive opportunities are very hard to come by in the Australia and South East Asian region,” Mr Hayden said.
“We see this as a logical extension for us given our experience in the Western Australian gas market and the northern Western Australian oil and gas upstream business in general.
“Targeting the unconventional plays in this area we know well is a logical direction for us.”
Mr Hayden said the company was well positioned to execute its drilling and exploration programs in Thailand, Ghana and Australia with around $100 million in cash on hand.
At close of trade today, Tap Oil stocks had dipped 0.6 per cent, trading at 77.5 cents.