The Queensland government has appointed its preferred tenderers to explore for oil and gas in the Taroom Trough, in a move to potentially open Australia’s first new major hydrocarbon province since the 1970s. The Queensland government announced on Tuesday it is awarding exploration rights to Omega TN Pty Ltd, Tri-Star Stonecroft Pty Ltd, and Drillsearch Energy Pty Ltd to drill for oil and gas in the Taroom Trough exploration tenement, which is roughly the size of Singapore. If any natural gas is found and produced…