New areas for offshore oil and gas exploration have been released. – ABC Online

As concerns over the supply and price of gas grow, the Federal Government has released new acreage for offshore oil and gas exploration.

They include areas off the coast of Western Australia and the Northern Territory, as well as in the historic oil and gas producing region of Bass Strait.

The annual acreage release is based on nominations from oil and gas companies on areas they are interested in exploring, and consequent work by Geoscience Australia.

A total of 21 areas in Commonwealth waters of Northern Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and the Ashmore and Cartier Islands will be opened up for industry to put bids in to explore in the area.

Lisa Schofield, general manager of offshore resources for the Federal Department of Innovation and Science and said the areas were subject to a rigorous process before being released.

"We put all nominations through a rigorous consultation process right across government," she said.

"We talk to a lot of agencies across the Commonwealth to ensure that what we do complies with requirements for areas like marine reserves, the defence industry and shipping lanes.

"We then have a conversation with the states because although the offshore areas are in Commonwealth waters, we manage them in partnership with the states and territories."

Ms Schofield said the acreage plans were then released for public consultation for around two months.

"The responses we get were mostly from fishing organisations or other interested parties that have a potential use, or question or concern, about the area being considered."

The release of acreage for oil and gas exploration in the Bass Strait could boost the nation's oldest offshore oil and gas production area.

The existing resources in the region, which takes in the Otway and Gippsland Basins, have been steadily declining for years.

However a recent report from global industry and management consultants McKinsey and Co found that reinvigorating production there was one way to keep a lid on spiralling gas prices on the east coast.

Ms Schofield said there was definitely interest and she thought some companies were really committed to doing further exploration there.

"There are lots of facilities and existing infrastructure and some part of the basins have been more or less explored than others.

"The acreage there is for the underexplored areas, and there's a number of titles that already existing in the Otway Basin, in that area between Victoria and Tasmania.

"There are already lots of titles and lots of facilities like pipelines that provide gas up to Victoria to feed that supply market," she said.

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New areas for offshore oil and gas exploration have been released. - ABC Online