COOPER BASIN

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:52): My question is to the Minister for Mineral Resources Development. Will the minister provide information on petroleum exploration results in the Cooper Basin?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:52): I thank the honourable member for his question. The Cooper Basin remains Australia's most popular on-shore destination for oil exploration investment, and it has attracted record numbers of explorers and very high tenement work programs.

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: New explorers in the Cooper Basin have drilled a total of 111 exploration wells and 36 appraisal/development wells since January 2002 through to the end of December 2007. Most have targeted oil; however, both oil and gas have been discovered. The new entrants found new pools in 24 of these wells (representing a technical success rate of 49 per cent), and 48 were cased and suspended as future producers (representing a commercial success rate of 43 per cent). Cooper Basin explorers are to be congratulated on this excellent result.

This year Cooper Basin drilling activity is at record levels and this is increasing the number of new field discoveries for explorers and resultant royalties for South Australia. Activity based on guaranteed work programs is forecast to exceed last year's high levels, and includes 27 exploration wells and 180 kilometres of two-dimensional seismic and 500 square kilometres of three-dimensional seismic in 2008, although rains in the Cooper Basin may delay some operations.

New entrants in the Cooper Basin had drilled 20 petroleum exploration wells by the end of December 2007. Seven of these exploration wells have discovered new petroleum accumulations at a commercial success rate of 35 per cent, one well was suspended for future evaluation, and the remaining 12 were abandoned. In the six-year term from January 2002 to the end of December 2007, the Santos joint venture drilled 264 new wells in joint venture petroleum production licences. Of 37 exploration wells, 17 were successful and 20 were abandoned; of the 52 appraisal wells, 44 were successful and eight were abandoned; and of the 175 development wells, 167 were successful and eight were abandoned. This corresponds to a commercial success rate of 46 per cent for exploration and 93 per cent for appraisal and development.

There has also been a significant increase in Santos joint venture Cooper Basin oil appraisal and development drilling in the past 12 months, with the Cooper Oil Project targeting 400 wells in South Australia and 600 in Queensland in a five-year period. Both the new entrant explorers and incumbent Santos joint venture have a significant inventory of good targets still to explore, and it is inevitable that yet more oil and gas fields will be discovered in the Cooper Basin. All in all, South Australia's Cooper Basin remains a rewarding, attractive destination for petroleum exploration investment, and further discoveries are inevitable.