Oil Search grows PNG footprint

Oil Search is set to acquire stakes in ExxonMobil-held petroleum prospecting licences (PPLs) and a Petroleum Retention Licence (PRL) in Papua New Guinea, the company said on Monday.

In a statement, Oil Search said it would be farming into PPLs 474, 475, 476 and 477, buying a 30% stake in each of the areas. It would pick up a similar interest in PRL 39.

To sweeten the deal, Oil Search would carry out a seismic campaign across the acreage over the next months on behalf of Exxon.

The US major landed the mentioned licences when it absorbed InterOil earlier this year, winning a bidding war with Oil Search.

“Prior to our proposed bid for InterOil in 2016, Oil Search identified the onshore Papuan Gulf Basin as an area with not only discovered gas resources, but also significant further gas potential,” Oil Search Managing Director Peter Botten said in a statement.

“The proposed farm-in to these licences materially enhances Oil Search’s exploration portfolio in this highly prospective area,” he added.

The licences are located in proximity to the Elk-Antelope fields, where the Triceratops, Bobcat and Raptor discoveries were made.