Project summary
H2EX propose to explore, appraise and develop natural hydrogen within Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) 691.
PEL 691 is located on south-eastern side of the Eyre Peninsula and includes the towns of Cleve in the north and Tumby Bay to the south. You can view the licence documents here. Areas covered by the licence can be seen on Figure 1 (below) and as an interactive map using the South Australian Resources Information Gateway (SARIG) map browser.
Figure 1. Detailed map of PEL 691.
Approval stages
All prospective operators, prior to any on-ground activities, must adhere to the three stage approvals process under the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 2000, which is outlined in the Guide to the licensing and approvals process for exploration, retention and production activities flowchart.
| Stage 1 - Licensing - APPROVAL GRANTED |
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Stage 2 - SEO Approval - NO SUBMISSION AT PRESENT Note – An approved SEO currently exists for state-wide low impact preliminary exploration and survey activities. This can be accessed via the Environmental Register. |
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Stage 3 - Activity Approval - ACTIVITY APPROVED H2EX has been approved to undertake a magnetotelluric (passive seismic) survey and an ambient noise tomography survey. |
The Licence Approval process (Stage 1) grants exclusive rights to an area to explore for resources but does not grant rights to undertake on-ground activities.
H2EX have been granted Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) 691 to explore areas for hydrogen production on south-eastern Eyre Peninsula.
Further information on the Licensing process is available on the Licence applications page.
All regulated activities conducted under the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 2000 (PGE Act) must have an approved Statement of Environmental Objectives (SEO) in place with which they comply, prepared on the basis of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). When the time comes, an EIR and Draft SEO will be developed to cover future proposed Hydrogen Exploration activities within the Petroleum Exploration License (PEL) 691 for assessment by the Department for Energy and Mining (DEM), in close consultation with relevant co-regulatory agencies.*
For further information on the approvals process, including relevant stages and consultation requirements, please see Activity approval process.
* Note – Approved SEOs currently exist for state-wide low impact activities such as preliminary and airborne geophysical surveys. These can be accessed via the Environmental Register.
Should the SEO be approved and gazetted in accordance with Part 12 of the P&GE Act, the licensee has to proceed to the third and final stage of the approval process prior to commencing on-ground activities. This entails submission of an activity notification in accordance with Regulation 18 or 19, and supporting information to satisfy the requirements of Regulation 20.
DEM’s assessment for Stage 3 approval will include consideration of supporting information provided by the licensee to demonstrate that all design, construction and operations relating to this activity are in accordance with recognised industry standards and fit for the purpose for achieving the requirements of the final approved SEO objectives and conditions.
Of particular note, with respect to environmental obligations under Regulation 20(1)(g), an assessment is required to be provided by the licensee determining whether the proposed activity is covered by an existing and approved SEO, in addition to detailing how the licensee will ensure that the proposed activity will comply with the respective SEO requirements.
Further information
Acknowledging that Hydrogen exploration and development is a new activity in the State, the Department wishes to provide further information to the public and anticipated questions have been answered below.
What information will a company proposing activities near or on my land want?
Through the various stages of activity planning to operations a licensee will seek information from you to better understand your requirements during operations. These range from understanding:
- Who should be contacted about activities? At what time? How (email, phone call etc)?
- Where activities can occur? When is a bad time for them to occur (i.e. when does harvest happen, lambing, etc)? How they can comply with biosecurity requirements? How can the property be accessed?
- What compensation can be fairly provided (what is the crop value, how much land has been impacted, etc)?
The South Australian Chamber of Mines & Energy (SACOME) has prepared the SACOME Land Access Guide 2020 to assist South Australian resource companies undertake land access in a ‘best practice’ manner.
In developing this document, SACOME sought input from the agricultural sector in preparing this guide to better understand landholder concerns and expectations around land access. In doing so, it is hoped to provide explorers with useful advice on how to establish and maintain constructive relationships with landholders.
For further information on expectations of explorers, please see the Exploration Land Access Guide page.
What are my rights as a landholder if the company wishes to undertake activities on my land?
You have a right as a landholder to object to entry within 14 days of receipt of a Notice of Entry (NOE) which will contain a detailed description of activities that enable you to understand the impacts and consequences resulting from the activities.
Licensees are obliged under Part 10 of the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 2000 to give notices of entry to all landowners 21 days prior to entering and commencing regulated activity on any land.
For further information on the NOE requirements, please see the Notice of Entry Section of the Approval Process page.
Has any previous petroleum exploration occurred in this area?
South-eastern Eyre Peninsula consists of crystalline rocks which form the Gawler Craton and is not regarded as prospective for oil and gas. As a result there has been no modern petroleum exploration activities such as drilling or seismic surveying. Southern Eyre Peninsula’s only petroleum well, the Fountain Bore was drilled in 1914 but did not find any traces of oil or gas.
Exploration for hydrogen is likely to follow techniques used previously in South Australia to explore for oil and gas. Field sampling and airborne geophysics are proposed and if results are encouraging seismic surveying and drilling may occur. You can view the proposed exploration work programs in the PEL 691 licence document.
You can view the latest spatial information and create your own maps using the Department's purpose built spatial system known as SARIG.
