b'Canberra observedFigure 3.Location of release area V18-3 showing La Bella gas field. La Bella 1 intersected gas at about 2 km depth when it was drilled in 1993. There is no scale on the map but the area of V18-3 is approximately 270 km2.They were awarded as follows:1. Exploration permit Vic/P73 in the V18-3 release area in the Otway Basin, 50 km south of Warnambool, awarded to Lattice Energy with a successful cash bid of $4 million. This area contains the La Bella gas field (See Figure 3).2. Exploration permit WA-536-P in the W18-7 release area in the Northern Carnarvon Basin, 150 km west of Dampier, awarded to Woodside Energy and KUFPEC (as joint applicants). KUFPEC is an international petroleum resource company based in Kuwait. It operates in 13 countries and has a capital value of approximately US$ 4000 billion. Two bids were made in the auction; the successful joint cash bid was $5.1 million (see Figure 4).3. Exploration permit WA-537-P in the W18-10 release area in the Northern Carnarvon Basin, 240 km west of Onslow, was awarded to Chevron Australia. One bid was made in the auction and the successful cash bid was $2 million (Figure5).These three areas are all comparatively small, and are either in, or close to, areas that have been explored previously. The exploration activitiesFigure 4.Location of release area W18-7, which occupies an area of about 90 km2. The red lines indicate planned by the successful bidders havegas pipelines.27 PREVIEW APRIL 2019'