Whitebark seals deal as King Energy takeover becomes unconditional

Whitebark Energy’s off-market takeover bid for King Energy has turned a corner to become unconditional. The company’s voting power in King has passed the magic 90 per cent mark, all but locking in one of Australia’s juiciest onshore hydrogen, helium and hydrocarbon (3H) plays in South Australia’s Officer Basin into Whitebark’s exploration portfolio.

Whitebark made an offer for King in December last year that valued the company at a cool $1.67 million. The announcement pushed Whitebark’s share price up 50 per cent from 0.6 cents to 1.2c.

Fast forward four months, add a $2m cash injection and some fancy satellite surveys, Whitebark is now sitting pretty with its massive 19,467-square-kilometre Alinya 3H project in the Officer Basin.

The takeover offer is now free of all conditions and Whitebark has the green light to roll towards full ownership.

The company has urged King’s last shareholder holdouts to accept the offer, which closes on March 24.

King owns a 70 per cent stake in the Alinya project and an option to move to full ownership, which Whitebark will no doubt now move towards, following evidence of subsurface resources at Alinya that will shape the company’s near-term drilling plans.

The Alinya plot has been billed as the country’s biggest undrilled, seismically defined sub-salt energy basin.

The project is positioned in what is widely regarded as prime real estate for the exploration of naturally occurring white hydrogen and helium together with natural gas. The land has comparable source rocks and geological characteristics to the Southern Amadeus Basin immediately to the north, which is well known for significant oil and gas discoveries with proven hydrogen and helium reserves found in deep formations.

Following a satellite survey in February, multiple hydrogen anomalies were identified proximal to previously mapped major faults and trends, further instilling Whitebark’s confidence to swiftly complete its acquisition.

Whitebark is eager to kick off boots-on-the-ground exploration as soon as possible. It says soil gas detection surveys are slated for May and a 2D seismic in-fill survey is planned for later this year.

A discovery of naturally occurring hydrogen - sometimes referred to as white hydrogen - at Alinya could be a massive fillip for its home state, since the South Australian government has signalled a strong shift towards more sustainable and diversified energy sources, including hydrogen.

Management is no doubt itching to drill to see if this frontier can live up to the hype and if it could be the next globally significant 3H province.

Several years ago, Santos and its joint venture partner Central Petroleum identified several substantial subsalt targets in the Amadeus Basin. The targets were regarded as top-shelf prospects due to their thick and impermeable salt seals, which were considered perfect for trapping sizable gas reservoirs.

When King Energy picked up its similar-looking ground two years ago, it was fortunate enough to acquire all of Santos’ detailed 2D seismic data over the permits.

Alinya’s proximity to South Australia’s Moomba gas hub slashes the cash the company would need to pipe tricky hydrogen and helium molecules to market. If Whitebark strikes white hydrogen, they might just plant themselves - and the state - at the forefront of a next-generation energy source.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au