Acreage Release

As part of the Australian Government’s strategy to support the identification of suitable greenhouse gas (GHG) storage sites and to promote the exploration for oil and natural gas new offshore acreage is being released regularly. Energy companies are invited to submit work program bids under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006. Successful bidders are granted with the licence to explore for hydrocarbons and/or for suitable GHG storage sites Refer to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources for information on the acreage release processes for offshore petroleum exploration and greenhouse gas storage assessment.

Geoscience Australia supports these releases and ongoing investment in exploration with a suite of regional petroleum geological information and data (see below) and through targeted geological studies. Open access precompetitive geological and geophysical data is available from the National Offshore Petroleum Information Management System (NOPIMS) and the Geoscience Australia Portal.

Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release

The Australian Government released seven new offshore exploration areas in the offshore Otway Basin for petroleum exploration. The closing date for all work program bid submissions for all five areas is Tuesday, 30 June 2026. New nominations are welcomed for consideration as part of future offshore petroleum exploration and greenhouse gas storage acreage releases.