Australia's oil and gas exploration expenditure during January-March rose compared with the previous year and quarter, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), after recovering to its strongest level since the Covid-19 pandemic in the previous quarter.
- Spending for the latest quarter was A$379mn ($253mn), 48pc higher than the revised figure of A$256mn for October-December.
- This followed higher spending in Western Australia (WA) and Queensland states, while Northern Territory (NT) receipts were slightly down on a year earlier.
- State governments have funded further exploration drilling, including Queensland that allocated A$21mn for its Frontier Gas Exploration Grant programme on 10 May to be shared by four firms operating in the onshore Bowen basin.
- Woodside Energy reported global exploration and evaluation (E&A) expenses of $54mn for January-March, up from $52mn a year earlier, while fellow Australian independent Santos spent $59mn compared with $58mn over the same period.
- The Queensland-based 9mn t/yr Australia Pacific LNG project reported E&A spending up by 30pc on the previous quarter to A$26mn for January-March, while July 2023-March 2024 capital expenditure was up by 90pc on the previous year to A$57mn.
- Offshore spending comprised 37pc of the total for the quarter, up by 31pc from the previous quarter and 36pc against January-March 2023.
| Australia oil, gas exploration spending (A$mn) | ||||||
| Offshore | Onshore | Total | Queensland | WA | NT | |
| Jan-Mar '24 | 142 | 237 | 379 | 109 | 175 | 30 |
| Oct-Dec '23 | 80 | 176 | 256 | 74 | 124 | 15 |
| Jan-Mar '23 | 85 | 150 | 235 | 48 | 110 | 31 |
| q-o-q % ± | 78 | 35 | 48 | 47 | 41 | 100 |
| y-o-y % ± | 67 | 58 | 61 | 127 | 59 | -3 |
| Source: ABS | ||||||
