The Australian government has ended the uncertainty surrounding the 2022 offshore exploration licensing round by announcing the acreage release will be going ahead this year.

Ordinarily, the annual licensing round is launched every April or May to coincide with the APPEA conference and exhibition.

However, this year’s round was not launched because of the federal election in May which led to a change of government.

To add to the uncertainty, the government’s petroleum exploration department has provided no progress reports this year on the licensing round.