Considered "a junior miner", Empire Energy wants to drill two wells 85km south-west of Borroloola.

Santos and Origin Energy has already won approval to continue exploring for shale gas now the Northern Territory's moratorium has been listed.

Empire Energy has applied from NT Government approval to drilling the exploratory wells, noting none of the wells are to be fracked.

Empire is headquartered in Sydney, and has gas and oil interests in the USA.

A mobile rig will drill to an expected depth of 2100 metres into the deep Beetaloo shale by the end of this year, Empire says.

A drilling camp will be located along the Carpentaria Highway with a capacity to accommodate 30 people.

As part of the company's application, it disclosed any waste from the operation, including chemical drums, would be disposed of in approved facilities in Katherine or Darwin.

Other waste from the drilling process would first be evaporated off and trucked to approved disposal facilities outside of the NT.

The company wants to check to check seismic results to "select drilling locations for development wells".

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox each Friday at 6am from the Katherine Times. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, sign up here.