The Queensland Government has awarded exploration tenders for areas in the Taroom Trough prospecting area, Julia Creek and north of Blackwater.
The successful Taroom tenderers are:
- Denison Gas (Queensland) Pty Ltd, and OGT Energy Pty Ltd (PLR2026-1-8, approx. 1069 km2)
- Shell QGC Pty Limited (PLR2026-1-9, approx. 411 km2)
- Omega TN Pty Ltd, Tri-Star Stonecroft Pty Ltd and Beach Energy Queensland Pty Ltd (PLR2026-1-10, approx. 1138 km2)
The Taroom Trough, sitting around 300km west of Brisbane, is a massive underground geological trench that span 43,000 km2. It holds trapped deep layers of gas and crude oil.
The government has also named Idemitsu Australia as the preferred tenderer for two vanadium blocks totalling 269 km2, about 25km north-east of Julia Creek.
The CAML Resources, Nippon Steel Australia and Foxleigh Coal consortium appointed the preferred tenderer for a 54 km2 coal exploration area about 50km north of Blackwater.
The consortium is the joint venture operator of the nearby Foxleigh coal mine with a 700-person workforce.
Highly prospective land in the Cooper/Eromanga Basin has also opened for petroleum and gas exploration tender and will be announced in coming weeks, along with the remaining successful tenderer for the acreage in the Taroom Trough.
Premier David Crisafulli said the tenders announcements were a “catalytic moment in our history”.
“For too long, Governments celebrated cutting access to our resources and found ourselves dangling at the end of global supply chains,” Mr Crisafulli said.
“The best role we can play as a government is delivering a stable regulatory environment that companies can confidently invest in.
“With 51 of the world’s critical minerals, more than $1 trillion in resource potential, strong environmental protections, thousands of highly skilled workers and a government that genuinely wants to see resources projects get off the ground, Queensland is quickly emerging as a global competitor.”
Head of Shell QGC Krishna Venkatesan welcomed the new exploration acreage.
“We look forward to expanding our industry-leading exploration and appraisal activities in the Taroom Trough, which we view as an exciting new domestic market and backfill opportunity,” Mr Venkatesan said.
