Melbana Energy Limited (ASX: MAY) (Melbana) has today been advised by the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator that its application for a 12 month suspension of the work program conditions in respect of Permit Year 3 (with a corresponding extension of the permit term) for Petroleum Exploration Permit WA-488-P has been approved. As a result, Permit Year 3 now ends on 21 December 2021 and the permit term will end on 21 December 2023.
WA-488-P contains the giant Beehive prospect – a carbonate build up that has been independently assessed to have a prospective resource of 388 million barrels of oil equivalent (best estimate). A 3D seismic survey has been completed over the prospect and considerable progress has been made on planning and permitting for an exploration well.
Melbana Energy’s Executive Chairman, Andrew Purcell, said: “We will use this extra time to continue to evaluate the 3D seismic results and further progress discussions with potential farminees for the drilling of an exploration well into this structure. These types of carbonate buildups are responsible for some of the world’s largest discoveries. When they work, they tend to work big, as can be seen in the estimates of prospective resource being significantly skewed to the upside, so we will continue to work towards the drilling of this important prospect.”
