The review by Gaffney, Cline & Associates (GCA) backed up NGE's belief that PPL 267 was most likely an oil play and identified a lead with structural closure at the Alene and Toro reservoir levels.

GCA assessed the Alene objective to hold a proven plus probable prospective resource of 9.4 million barrels, while it estimated the Toro objective to hold 12.2 million barrels.

It also assessed each of the leads to have a geological chance of success of 12%.

“We are very encouraged that independent experts with no vested interest in NGE support our view of the possibility of a significant oil target in PPL 267 close to the mouth of the Bamu River near the southern coastline of PNG,” said NGE chief executive Grant Worner.

“If exploration is successful, and with potentially more than 20 million barrels of recoverable oil, this target’s proximity to water-borne transportation routes should facilitate comparatively low finding and development costs and be helpful in converting a discovery into a revenue generating asset in a relatively short timeframe.”

NGE said more work was needed before leads could be considered mature enough to be classified as prospects.

The Australian-listed company holds a 100% operated stake in PPL 267.