Relinquishment of Geothermal Exploration Permits
Perth, May 28, 2012 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Central Petroleum Limited (
ASX:CTP) wishes to advise that it has received formal notification confirming the relinquishment of its geothermal exploration permits. The Board's decision to relinquish these non-core assets was a result of the Company's ongoing asset portfolio review.
The three geothermal exploration permits were considered to be non-core relative to Central's other conventional and unconventional acreage holdings, particularly in light of the recent conventional oil discovery at Surprise in the Amadeus Basin and the near-term financial commitments which will be required to appraise that field.
Heavy expenditure obligations on the geothermal permits of $11 million over four years, including $7 million in the first two years, were determined not to constitute the best use of existing funds.
Acting CEO, Dalton Hallgren said, "The relinquishment of these non-core holdings allows the Company to focus on the assets that are expected to deliver the best return on investment. From both a financial and management perspective, the expenditure required to advance these geothermal assets was not considered in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders."
The Company has canvassed expressions of interest for both farmin and acquisition opportunities as an alternative to the relinquishment of the geothermal exploration permits, and received no interest from any party.
About Central Petroleum Limited
Central Petroleum Limited (
ASX:CTP) is a well-established, and emerging ASX-listed Australian oil and gas producer. In our short history, Central has grown to become the largest onshore gas producer in the Northern Territory (NT), supplying industrial customers and senior gas distributors in NT and the wider Australian east coast market.
Central is positioned to become a significant domestic energy supplier, with exploration and development plans across 180,000 km2 of tenements in Queensland and the Northern Territory, including some of Australia's largest known onshore conventional gas prospects. Central has also completed an MoU with Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG) to progress the proposed Amadeus to Moomba Gas Pipeline to a Final Investment Decision.
We are also seeking to develop the Range gas project, a new gas field located among proven CSG fields in the Surat Basin, Queensland with 135 PJ (net to Central) of development-pending 2C contingent resource.
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