Chevron Sniffing Around In The Great Australian Bight  

The Australian reports that Chevron is looking to explore for oil offshore from South Australia - Chevron shifts offshore in $500m Bight Basin push.

ENERGY giant Chevron is preparing to spend almost $500 million on oil and gas exploration as part of a massive push into the Bight Basin off South Australia, in a departure from its primary focus on LNG projects in Western Australia. Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said yesterday that exploration permits had been awarded to Chevron to explore in two frontier offshore blocks spanning more than 32,000sqkm -- almost doubling the US group's total offshore acreage holdings in Australia.

The Bight Basin, part of the Great Australian Bight, is believed to be highly prospective and is similar in size to the Gulf of Mexico. Last year, the federal government granted permits to BP in the Bight Basin, marking the first time the environmentally sensitive region had been explored for more than a decade.