Beetaloo Energy Australia has secured a 25 per cent stake in an emerging liquids play in Queensland’s Taroom Trough without making an upfront payment, extending the company’s unconventional energy interests beyond its Northern Territory gas projects.
The Queensland Government named Beetaloo, Amplitude Energy, Xstate Resources and Eastern States Energy as preferred tenderers for the PLR2026-1-7 block following a competitive land-release process. Each partner will hold an equal share, with Beetaloo’s interest owned through its subsidiary Imperial Oil & Gas A Pty Limited and Xstate acting as operator.
The 305-square-kilometre permit lies between Miles and Condamine on Queensland’s Western Downs, on the eastern side of the Taroom Trough. It sits across the Bowen and Surat basins, close to an established hydrocarbon-producing region.
Beetaloo said the acreage offered exposure to multiple Permian reservoir intervals in a basin-centred play, where hydrocarbons are distributed through a broad section of rock rather than concentrated in one conventional reservoir.
The company pointed to nearby drilling as evidence of the area’s potential. The Fantome-1 well, about 15km to the west and down-dip, flowed gas from the Permian formation after being drilled in 2012 by BG Group through its Queensland Gas Company subsidiary.
Further south, Omega Oil and Gas’ Canyon play has been tested by four wells, including a horizontal appraisal well that sustained production of 321 barrels of oil a day and 0.472 million standard cubic feet of gas a day. The well produced light crude oil, while an August appraisal identified six oil and gas-bearing reservoirs with 170 metres of net pay.
Canyon has a certified best-estimate contingent resource of 1.73 trillion cubic feet of gas and 68.6 million barrels of light oil and condensate. Beetaloo said the results had increased its confidence in the wider Taroom Trough.
Beetaloo managing director Alex Underwood said the deal provided a low-cost route into an oil and liquids-rich area while retaining the company’s focus on its Northern Territory assets.
“This award provides a low-cost entry into the liquids and oil-rich window of the Taroom Trough, secured for zero upfront consideration and gives our shareholders exposure to two of Australia’s premier unconventional plays – the Beetaloo Basin’s world-class gas resources and the Taroom Trough’s liquids prospectivity,” Mr Underwood said.
Taroom Trough work programme
The joint venture’s initial two-year programme will involve seismic processing and early exploration intended to assess the block’s prospects before further exploration and appraisal work.
Existing pipeline, road and rail infrastructure in the region could support the programme and provide potential routes to market if the project eventually reaches development. The company also cited a streamlined regulatory process and basin-wide planning under the Queensland Government’s Taroom Trough Development Plan.
Xstate will run the programme, allowing Beetaloo to participate without taking on operatorship. Beetaloo said its share of near-term spending could be funded from existing cash without diverting its main capital programme.
The company’s core development project is the Carpentaria gas pilot in the Beetaloo Basin, where it is targeting first gas sales by the end of the year. A 30-day production test at the Carpentaria-5H well has averaged 6.9 terajoules a day, providing data for the next stage of the project.
