TAG Oil expands oil and gas operations into Australia
VANCOUVER -- International oil and gas production company TAG Oil Ltd. has announced that the Company’s wholly owned Australian subsidiary, Cypress Petroleum Pty Ltd., has closed the purchase of 100% interest in Petroleum Lease (PL) 17 from privately held Southern Cross Petroleum & Exploration Pty Ltd.
PL 17 is an oil and gas production permit and high-value exploration acquisition that covers 104 km2 (25,700 acres) in the Surat basin, one of Australia’s first producing basins. It is located in a light-oil discovery trend, and is situated approximately 20 km and on trend with Moonie oil field, which has produced ~25 MMbbl, to date. PL 17 contains two undeveloped oil fields, Bennett and Leichhardt fields, and the production permit area is largely unexplored, despite the proven and significant oil and gas potential.
TAG Oil CEO Toby Pierce commented, “On behalf of the team we are all very excited to announce the closing of this acquisition, which is TAG Oil’s second acquisition since the beginning of 2016, and TAG’s first operated asset outside of New Zealand. Similar to our recent Puka acquisition in New Zealand, PL 17 provides TAG with proven production, reserves and attractive exploration prospects in another stable country with the benefit of extensive service and production infrastructure. With the application of modern 3D seismic and production equipment, PL 17 brings immediate value to our portfolio and the potential to deliver substantial development and exploration upside.”
