A new seismic survey scoping out the potential for new gas and other mineral resources in the Northern Territory's Barkly region wraps up this week, paving the way for further resource exploration and jobs, according to Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan.
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The 820 kilometre survey covers ground which has seen little exploration in the past and will fill in the 'missing link' between Mount Isa and the Beetaloo SubBasin in the Northern Territory.
Senator Canavan said.the Beetaloo sub-Basin, situated in central NT, has the potential to deliver 178,000 Petajoules of shale gas, which is larger than any of the North West Shelf conventional gas resources.
"It's exciting to have a region that could promise the same potential resources," Senator Canavan said.
"Over 25 years a moderate scale of onshore gas development in the NT could create more than 6,500 jobs and be worth more than $9 billion nationally.
The minister said nines in the Barkly region already contribute $17 million annually to the Australian economy.
"With this new data, we could expand this significantly and create more jobs for Northern Australia," he said.
Companies are becoming increasingly attracted to potential of region as the recent farm-in by Santos into Armour Energy's acreage in the South Nicholson Basin demonstrates.
Northern Territory Minister for Primary Industry and Resources Paul Kirby said recent industry interest in the Beetaloo area including new drilling activity since they lifted the fracking moratorium showed the areas have huge potential.
The Federal Government has contributed $4.5 million to the survey under the Exploring for the Future Program, with an additional $140,000 from the Northern Territory Geological Survey. It commenced in September 2019 close to the Queensland border near Camooweal and will extend to near Elliot in the Northern Territory.
The acquired data from the survey will be processed and released in the first half of 2020.
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