THE Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released its Mineral and Petroleum Exploration data for the September Quarter 2016, showing mineral exploration has risen slightly but petroleum exploration has fallen.
Mineral exploration rises:
The trend estimate for total mineral exploration expenditure increased 0.6% ($2.1m) to $349.2m in the September quarter 2016.
The largest contributor to the increase in the trend estimate this quarter was Western Australia (up 1.9%, $4.2m). The current quarter estimate is 0.8% lower than the September quarter 2015 estimate.
The seasonally adjusted estimate for mineral exploration expenditure rose 1.0% ($3.5m) to $351.3m in the September quarter 2016. The largest contributor to the rise this quarter was Queensland (up 14.3%, $6.3m).
Petroleum exploration falls:
The trend estimate for total petroleum exploration expenditure fell 6.9% (-$23.9m) to $324.5m in the September quarter 2016. Exploration expenditure on production leases fell 35.7% (-$18.3m) and exploration expenditure on all other areas fell 0.5% (-$1.6m).
The seasonally adjusted estimate for total petroleum exploration expenditure rose 22.2% ($65.8m) to $361.9m in the September quarter 2016. Exploration expenditure on production leases fell 46.7% (-$27.2m) and exploration expenditure on all other areas rose 39.1% ($93.0m).
The largest contributor to the decrease in the trend estimate was Western Australia (down 12.7%, -$32.2m) and the largest contributor to the rise in the seasonally adjusted estimate was Northern Territory (up 209.0%, $42.0m).
AREEA’s upcoming Resource Industry Market Outlook ‘Summer Edition’ is due to hit our members’ inboxes in mid-January and will provide further information and analysis on these exploration numbers and what they mean for Australia’s resources sector.
For more information, please contact AREEA’s Principal Adviser – Industry and Economic Policy, Tristan Menalda, on [email protected] or via (03) 9614 4777.