KUALA LUMPUR (March 7): Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd's joint venture (JV) in Australia has been granted a five-year renewal term ending March 6, 2023 for the VIC/P57 exploration at the Gippsland Basin there.

In a statement, Hibiscus said the JV is made-up of its indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries Carnarvon Hibiscus Pty Ltd and Gippsland Hibiscus Pty Ltd, as well as 3D Oil Ltd in which Hibiscus also owns a 13% stake. 

In total, Hibiscus has 78.3% effective interest in VIC/P57, the statement said. 

Prospective review conducted on-site found seven leads and prospects comprising both oil and gas reserves. 

The JV’s minimum guaranteed work programme on-site comprise geological and geophysical studies and review of results. Optionally, the JV may also develop its first exploration well for the new prospects in the fourth year of the work programme, said Hibiscus.

Of the seven inventories, the Felix inventory — the largest oil prospect — holds an estimated prospective resource of 24 million barrels (MMbbls) of oil recoverable, of which 67% or 16 MMbbls sits within VIC/P57 itself.

“The review carried out also uncovered a new gas prospect, Pointer, within the high-quality reservoirs of the Latrobe Group,” Hibiscus said.

Pointer has been determined as the lowest risk gas target with volumetric calculations conducted for the entire feature, resulting in an estimate of 250 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of recoverable gas, of which 94% or 235 Bcf sits within the VIC/P57, the statement added.

“It is an additional benefit that Pointer is optimally located to rapidly deliver gas to a deprived east coast gas market,” Hibiscus said.

The finding bodes well, considering an undersupply of gas in the Australian market and that premium prices are currently being paid for gas in South East Australia, Hibiscus managing director Kenneth Pereira said.

“Hence a potential discovery at Pointer in due course would be a likely material addition to our current revenue stream,” Pereira added.

At midday break today, Hibiscus fell 5.41% or 5 sen to 87.5 sen, with 21.69 million shares traded.