Petroleum lease
You can apply for a petroleum lease over an area of your authority to prospect (ATP) if you make a discovery that is currently commercially viable. If the lease is granted, the area is excised from the ATP.
Note: You can also apply for a petroleum lease in response to a call for tenders, in which case a pre-existing ATP is not required.
Permitted activities
A petroleum lease gives you the right to:
- explore for petroleum
- test for petroleum production
- produce petroleum.
Incidental activities
You may also carry out an incidental activity within the area of your lease if it is reasonably necessary for, or incidental to:
- an authorised activity for the lease
or - an authorised activity for another petroleum lease or ATP.
Incidental activities must:
- be built for the management, use, access or monitoring of the lease
- be temporary in nature, and exists only for the purposes of the lease
- not provide a benefit or service beyond what is necessary for the use, monitoring and access of the lease.
Examples of incidental activities include:
- constructing or operating plant or works, such as
- communication systems
- compressors
- powerlines
- pumping stations
- ponds and tanks
- constructing temporary industrial or technical structures, including mobile or temporary camps.
Constructing renewable energy infrastructure
Renewable energy infrastructure may be constructed as an incidental activity for a petroleum lease, provided it meets the same requirements as other incidental activities.
The infrastructure must be:
- primarily used to power gas operations
- located entirely within the petroleum lease boundary
- temporary and removed after petroleum activities cease.
If the infrastructure meets these requirements, additional development approvals under the Planning Act 2016 may not be required. However, this can depend on the scale and extent of the infrastructure and will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, similar to other incidental activities.
Before constructing renewable energy infrastructure as an incidental activity on a lease, ensure you have:
- contacted the Petroleum Assessment Hub to confirm that the infrastructure meets the relevant requirements
- conducted landholder consultation and made any necessary updates to your Conduct and Compensation Agreement
- confirmed with the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation whether amendments to your Environmental Authority are required
- confirmed whether you require an authority to operate electricity infrastructure on your petroleum lease to support activities – these licences are administered by Queensland Treasury under the Electricity Act 1994 and the Electricity Regulation 2006.
Exporting surplus renewable energy
Some operations may want to participate in the energy market by exporting any surplus energy not required for operations to the national grid or to nearby off-lease infrastructure unrelated to petroleum production. This is not considered an incidental activity under a petroleum lease, and additional regulatory requirements will apply.
A community benefit system applies to large-scale solar farms and wind farms in Queensland. Find out more about renewable energy planning regulations.
Environmental authorities
Before we grant a resource authority, you will require the appropriate environmental authority.
Native title
Any native title requirements will need to be addressed before we grant an authority.
Main features of a petroleum lease
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite authority | Authority to prospect (not required for tenders) |
| Duration | Maximum of 30 years |
| Size | No size limit |
| Renewable | Yes |
| Rent | {{ pass_35450 }} per km² |
| Application fee | {{ pass_35462 }} |
Australian domestic market supply condition
An Australian market supply condition may be attached to a petroleum lease.
The condition means that the authority holder must only sell gas produced from the lease to customers within Australia. The objective is to increase gas supplies and lower prices for domestic users.
Refer to the Operational policy – Complying with the Australian market supply condition (PDF, 663KB) for details of how the requirements of the condition can be met.
Amalgamation of petroleum leases
You can apply to amalgamate 2 or more petroleum leases into a single lease as long as:
- all of the holders of the individual leases agree to the proposed amalgamation
- the holders of the amalgamated lease will be the same as the holders of the individual leases
- for an individual lease, there are no outstanding amounts (e.g. annual rent, rates and charges payable to local government, royalty related amounts or security).
The petroleum leases do not need to be contiguous, but the proposed development plan must justify how the areas will be used in a single operation. Refer to s. 170D of the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 for details.
The amalgamation provisions do not apply to petroleum leases granted under the Petroleum Act 1923. However, if you are the holder 2 or more petroleum leases under the Petroleum Act 1923, you may apply to amalgamate the leases into a single petroleum lease issued under the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004, at the time of lodging a replacement petroleum lease application. Refer to s. 107B and 908 of the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 for details.
Ban on Enhanced Petroleum Recovery using a GHG Stream
In June 2024, the Queensland Government introduced a legislative ban on enhanced petroleum recovery activities that use a greenhouse gas (GHG) stream, within the area of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB), in Queensland.
For the purpose of the ban, the GAB is defined as the area that is on or below the surface of the plan area under the Water Plan (Great Artesian Basin and Other Regional Aquifers) 2017 (PDF, 1.2MB).
Injecting a GHG stream for the purpose of enhanced petroleum recovery within the GAB is no longer an authorised activity for a Petroleum Lease under both the Petroleum Act 1923 or Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004.
These activities may be able to occur in areas in other areas of Queensland outside of the GAB, subject to existing regulatory assessment and approvals processes.
Read more about the ban on GHG activities in the GAB.
How to apply
You can apply online for a petroleum lease through MyMinesOnline or using a hard-copy form. You can also apply through a call for tenders.
Petroleum lease under the Petroleum Act 1923
If you hold an authority to prospect issued under the Petroleum Act 1923, you can apply to have a petroleum lease issued under that Act. A lease can be granted for a maximum of 30 years and a maximum area of 260km². The area applied for cannot be within the area of a coal or oil shale resource authority.
You must apply in writing and include the information detailed in s. 40 of the Act. Contact us for more information before lodging this application.
Also consider...
- Read our guide to the application process for resource authorities for general information about lodging an application.
- Find out how to comply with your resource authority and the land access code.