Business · Energy & Commodities · 5 hrs ago
Bridgeport Energy wins tenders to explore 270,000 hectares in Queensland
Bridgeport Energy has been chosen to explore for oil and gas across an additional 270,000 hectares in Queensland’s Channel Country, between Innamincka and Thargomindah.
The area is near the Queensland–South Australia border, and the company says any fuel produced will stay in Australia.
Bridgeport already has oil-producing land in the Cooper-Eromanga basin and processes oil at Queensland’s only inland oil refinery, in Eromanga.
The new exploration land is outside protected flood plains, where fracking is banned, but some parts are within 5 to 10 kilometres of their boundary.
Graziers, traditional owners and conservationists want assurances that exploration will not harm the flood plains and nearby rivers.
The company says it will assess possible effects on groundwater, wildlife, plants and roads before exploration begins.
It expects permits and seismic surveys to take years, with a first well targeted within a couple of years after that process begins.
Bridgeport Energy has been named preferred tenderer to explore for oil and gas across 270,000 hectares in Queensland’s Channel Country.
The company says any fossil fuels produced from the land will stay in Australia.
The sites lie between Innamincka and Thargomindah, near the Queensland-South Australia border.
Traditional owners and graziers want assurances that exploration will not harm nearby flood plains.
Bridgeport says it will assess environmental impacts before exploration and expects the process to take years.
- Who
- Bridgeport Energy, an Australian oil company, was named preferred tenderer.
- What
- It won tenders to explore for oil and gas across 270,000 hectares.
- When
- The tender decision was reported on October 13, 2026.
- Where
- Queensland’s Channel Country, between Innamincka and Thargomindah near the South Australian border.
- Why
- The company said it wants to explore for oil and gas; the Queensland resources minister said increasing fuel supply was the only solution to bring down energy costs.
Bridgeport Energy
Western Rivers Alliance
Exploration near flood plains
Bridgeport Energy
Bridgeport says it will work closely with landholders and consider environmental impacts before exploration.
Western Rivers Alliance
The alliance wants industrial activity kept well away from flood plains to avoid adverse impacts.
Flood-plain protection
Bridgeport Energy
Bridgeport’s tender sites are outside the protected flood plains.
Western Rivers Alliance
The alliance says some sites are only 5 to 10 kilometres from the flood-plain boundary and wants assurances they will be managed safely.
Gas exploration was banned in some parts of the Channel Country.
Queensland began ramping up land allocations to mining companies.
Bridgeport Energy was reported as preferred tenderer for 270,000 hectares in the Channel Country.
Bridgeport aims to drill its first well, according to chief executive Christian Lange.
- Bridgeport tender area
- 270,000 hectares
- Location
- Between Innamincka and Thargomindah, on the Queensland-South Australia border
- Existing Bridgeport acreage
- About 90,000 hectares in the Cooper-Eromanga basin
- Nearby flood plains
- Some tender sites are 5 to 10 kilometres from the boundary
- Other Channel Country tender
- 62,500 hectares for Vintage Energy
- Taroom Trough tender
- 30,600 hectares won by a four-business consortium
What people are saying
We need to be cognisant that our disturbance on that land is zero effectively by the time we pack up and leave.
As a collective, our position is for the activity to stay off the flood plain, which this does achieve.
But the activity could come quite close to the flood plain and obviously we are keen to make sure that any oil and gas or any industrial activity stays managed well outside of the flood plain in order to not have an adverse impact on those significant river and flood plain areas.
only solution to bring down the cost of energy
Sources
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