GIPPSLAND—NEW POTENTIAL FROM A MATURE BASIN

2003 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 223
Author(s):  
N.M. Heath
Keyword(s):  
Joint Venture ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Energy Market ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
Exploration And Production ◽  
Market Opportunities ◽  
Exploration Drilling ◽  
3D Exploration ◽  
Gippsland Basin

It is now 39 years since the first gas was discovered in Bass Strait’s Gippsland Basin. Advances in exploration and production technology mean that today Australia’s longest producing offshore basin is also one of Australia’s most prospective. Gippsland is now producing around 160,000 barrels of crude and 570 million cubic feet of gas per day. To date it has produced more than 3.5 billion barrels of oil and 5 trillion cubic feet of gas and the value of the infrastructure in place is estimated to be around A$16 billion.Australia’s evolving energy market means that gas demand continues to grow. Following the re-structuring of energy markets in southeastern Australia and the installation of new pipeline infrastructure, Gippsland gas now flows to Victoria, NSW, Tasmania and will supply into South Australia from 2004. To meet this growing demand the Esso/BHPBilliton joint venture partners are investing heavily and utilising a vast array of 3D exploration technology to unlock new opportunities. In 2002 they conducted the largest 3D survey ever undertaken in Bass Strait and expect to conduct another in early 2003. A program of exploration drilling is expected to commence in late 2003. With expanded market opportunities and a gas resource base of more than 5 trillion cubic feet, the future looks bright for Gippsland.

MANAGING CONFIDENTIALITY AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST IN A COMPETITIVE ENERGY MARKET

1996 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 594
Author(s):  
P.D. Slattery ◽  
K. Stammer
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Joint Venture ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Petroleum Industry ◽  
Good Faith ◽  
Energy Market ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Competitive Activity ◽  
Exploration And Production

Producers and other participants in the petroleum industry are in the midst of an increasingly competitive energy market. It is now the case that throughout Australia producers of natural gas are competing not just with substitute sources of energy but with one another. No longer do producers only compete for prospective tenements, rather their competitive activity extends from acreage acquisition through to the burner tip. The emergence of deregulation in the gas industry and the opportunities for competitive activity have been discussed at recent APEA conferences.1The aim of this paper is to examine where conflicts between interest and duty may arise between joint venturers who are now directly, or through affiliated companies, competing for marketing opportunities. We examine how and why such conflicts may arise and whether it is possible to manage them while still participating in traditional forms of joint venture exploration, production and in some cases marketing.For example, are producers able to satisfy their obligations of good faith and preserve confidentiality in joint venture exploration and production activities without compromising their ability to independently pursue the marketing of their share of production?

Accelerating oil and gas investment and reserves by design

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 557
Author(s):  
Barry A. Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Land Access ◽  
Oil And Gas Exploration ◽  
Oil And Gas Producers ◽  
Crude Oil Prices ◽  
Exploration And Production ◽  
Oil And Gas Operations

Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence (Adams 1770). Some people unfamiliar with upstream petroleum operations, some enterprises keen to sustain uncontested land use, and some people against the use of fossil fuels have and will voice opposition to land access for oil and gas exploration and production. Social and economic concerns have also arisen with Australian domestic gas prices tending towards parity with netbacks from liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. No doubt, natural gas, LNG and crude-oil prices will vary with local-to-international supply-side and demand-side competition. Hence, well run Australian oil and gas producers deploy stress-tested exploration, delineation and development budgets. With these challenges in mind, successive governments in South Australia have implemented leading-practice legislation, regulation, policies and programs to simultaneously gain and sustain trust with the public and investors with regard to land access for trustworthy oil and gas operations. South Australia’s most recent initiatives to foster reserve growth through welcomed investment in responsible oil and gas operations include the following: a Roundtable for Oil and Gas; evergreen answers to frequently asked questions, grouped retention licences that accelerate investment in the best of play trends; the Plan for ACcelerating Exploration (PACE) Gas Program; and the Oil and Gas Royalty Return Program. Intended and actual outcomes from these initiatives are addressed in this extended abstract.

scholarly journals A REVIEW OF NANOTECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRIES

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
B.M. Das ◽  
D. Dutta
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Minimum Cost ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Oil Fields ◽  
Drilling Fluids ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
Exploration And Production ◽  
Exploration Drilling

Nanotechnology encompasses the science and technology of objects with sizes ranging from 1 nm to 100 nm. Today, exploration and production from conventional oil and gas wells have reached a stage of depletion. Newer technologies have been developed to address this problem. Maximum oil production at a minimum cost is currently a huge challenge. This paper reviews nanotechnology applications in the oil and gas production sector, including in the fields of exploration, drilling, production, and waste management in oil fields, as well as their environmental concerns. The paper reviews experimental observations carried out by various researchers in these fields. The effect of various nanoparticles, such as titanium oxide, magnesium oxide, zinc oxide, copper oxide, and carbon nanotubes in drilling fluids and silica nanoparticles in enhanced oil recovery, has been observed and studied. This paper gives a detailed review of the benefits of nanotechnology in oil exploration and production. The fusion of nanotechnology and petroleum technology can result in great benefits. The physics and chemistry of nanoparticles and nanostructures are very new to petroleum technology. Due to the greater risk associated with adapting new technology, nanotechnology has been slow to gain widespread acceptance in the oil and gas industries. However, the current economic conditions have become a driving force for newer technologies.

Mass Transport Complexes on a Cenozoic paleo-shelf edge, Gippsland basin, southeastern Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 98 ◽  
pp. 783-801 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.E. O'Brien ◽  
C.H. Mitchell ◽  
D. Nguyen ◽  
R.P. Langford
Keyword(s):  
Mass Transport ◽  
Shelf Edge ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
Gippsland Basin

FORTESCUE RESERVOIR DEVELOPMENT AND RESERVOIR STUDIES

1985 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 95
Author(s):  
S.T. Henzell ◽  
H.R. Irrgang ◽  
E.J. Janssen ◽  
R.A.H. Mitchell ◽  
G.O. Morrell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
History Matching ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Aquifer System ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
Drainage Patterns ◽  
Stock Tank ◽  
Well Pattern ◽  
Gippsland Basin

The Fortescue field in the Gippsland Basin, offshore southeastern Australia is being developed from two platforms (Fortescue A and Cobia A) by Esso Australia Ltd. (operator) and BHP Petroleum.The Fortescue reservoir is a stratigraphic trap at the top of the Latrobe Group of sediments. It overlies the western flank of the Halibut and Cobia fields and is separated from them by a non-net sequence of shales and coals which form a hydraulic barrier between the two systems. Development drilling into the Fortescue reservoir commenced in April 1983 with production coming onstream in May 1983. Fortescue, with booked reserves of 44 stock tank gigalitres (280 million stock tank barrels) of 43° API oil, is the seventh major oil reservoir to be developed in the offshore Gippsland Basin by Esso/BHP.In mid-1984, after drilling a total of 20 exploration and development wells, and after approximately one year of production, a detailed three-dimensional, two-phase reservoir simulation study was performed to examine the recovery efficiency, drainage patterns, pressure performance and production rate potential of the reservoir.The model was validated by history matching an extensive suite of Repeat Formation Test (RFT)* pressure data. The results confirmed the reserves basis, and demonstrated that the ultimate oil recovery from the reservoir is not sensitive to production rate.This result is consistent with studies on other high quality Latrobe Group reservoirs in the Gippsland Basin which contain undersaturated crudes and receive very strong water drive from the Basin-wide aquifer system. With the development of the simulation model during the development phase, it has been possible to more accurately define the optimal well pattern for the remainder of the development.* Mark of Schlumberger

THE YELLOWTAIL OIL DISCOVERY

1983 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 170
Author(s):  
A. R. Limbert ◽  
P. N. Glenton ◽  
J. Volaric
Keyword(s):  
Oil Recovery ◽  
Seismic Data ◽  
Joint Venture ◽  
Seismic Survey ◽  
3D Seismic ◽  
Well Control ◽  
Reservoir Volume ◽  
3D Data ◽  
Small Feature ◽  
Gippsland Basin

The Esso/Hematite Yellowtall oil discovery is located about 80 km offshore in the Gippsland Basin. It is a small accumulation situated between the Mackerel and Kingfish oilfields. The oil is contained in Paleocene Latrobe Group sandstones, and sealed by the calcareous shales and siltstones of the Oligocene to Miocene Lakes Entrance Formation. Structural movement and erosion have combined to produce a low relief closure on the unconformity surface at the top of the Latrobe Group.The discovery well, Yellowtail-1, was the culmination of an exploration programme initiated during the early 1970's. The early work involved the recording and interpretation of conventional seismic data and resulted in the drilling of Opah- 1 in 1977. Opah-1 failed to intersect reservoir- quality sediments within the interpreted limits of closure although oil indications were encountered in a non-net interval immediately below the top of the Latrobe Group. In 1980 the South Mackerel 3D seismic survey was recorded. The interpretation of these 3D data in conjunction with the existing well control resulted in the drilling of Yellowtail-1 and subsequently led to the drilling of Yellowtail-2.In spite of the intensive exploration to which this small feature has been subjected, the potential for its development remains uncertain. Technical factors which affect the viability of a Yellowtail development are:The low relief of the closure makes the reservoir volume highly sensitive to depth conversion of the seismic data.The complicated velocity field makes precise depth conversion difficult.The thin oil column reduces oil recovery efficiency.The detailed pattern of erosion at the top of the Latrobe Group may be beyond the resolution capability of 3D seismic data.The 3D seismic data may not be capable of defining the distribution of the non-net intervals within the trap.The large anticlinal closures and topographic highs in the Gippsland Basin have been drilled, and the prospects that remain are generally small or high risk. Such exploration demands higher technology in the exploration stage and more wells to define the discoveries, and has no guarantee of success. The Yellowtail discovery is an illustration of one such prospect that the Esso/Hematite joint venture is evaluating.

PETROLEUM RESOURCES OF OFFSHORE SOUTHEASTERN AUSTRALIA

1975 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Ian McPhee
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Deep Basin ◽  
Reservoir Rocks ◽  
Sedimentary Sequences ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
Petroleum Resources ◽  
Giant Fields ◽  
Gippsland Basin ◽  
Great Australian Bight

THE GIPPSLAND Basin is established as a prolific producer of oil and gas from a number of giant fields and other major discoveries are yet to be developed. Further discoveries can be expected in this petroliferous basin which has good future exploration potential. The Bass Basin has been disappointing as commercial discoveries have eluded the explorers. However source and reservoir rocks are present and the basin has future promise if the key to the nature of accumulations can be found. The Otway and Great Australian Bight Basins cover a vast area and include very thick potential source formations and good reservoir facies. Thick sedimentary sequences in the deep basin have been little explored and no significant shows encountered. The basins have potential but there are exploration difficulties to be overcome before full potential can be understood.

THE MEREENIE LEASE NEGOTIATIONS IN THE AMADEUS BASIN-AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

1999 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 562
Author(s):  
R. Liddle
Keyword(s):  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Joint Venture ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Land Rights ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Power Station ◽  
Channel Island ◽  
Central Australia ◽  
Territory Government

Following the discovery of oil and gas, the Mereenie Joint Venture (MJV) applied for a production lease in November 1973. However, the Aboriginal Land Rights Act NT 1976 came into operation in January 1977 and the MJV was thereby required to negotiate with the Central Land Council in order to be granted the lease. The CLC was reluctant to proceed with negotiations because of the difficulty of identifying traditional owners. After 22 communications with the Council, the MJV grew impatient and the Northern Territory Government advised them to engage the author to assist in expediting the negotiations. After an intense period from March to November 1979 in which the traditional owners were identified and some violent exchanges occurred, agreement was reached on the financial terms. The Mereenie lease, which was the first petroleum lease on Aboriginal land, was granted on 18 November 1981. At present oil is piped to Brewer Estate in Alice Springs and then transported by rail to Port Stanvac in South Australia. Gas is transported to the Channel Island Power Station near Darwin via a 1,485 km pipeline. Aboriginal traditional owners receive royalty payments from all petroleum produced from Mereenie, in addition to sharing a 10% statutory royalty under the NT petroleum ordinance. The Mereenie agreement stands as a precursor to all agreements on Aboriginal land in central Australia.

APPROACHES TO PALAEOGEOGRAPHIC RECONSTRUCTIONS OF THE LATROBE GROUP, GIPPSLAND BASIN, SOUTHEASTERN AUSTRALIA

2005 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 581 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Bernecker ◽  
A.D. Partridge
Keyword(s):  
Co2 Storage ◽  
Depositional Environments ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Southeastern Australia ◽  
Depositional System ◽  
Facies Associations ◽  
Marine Fossils ◽  
Coal Accumulation ◽  
Gippsland Basin

In the Gippsland Basin, the seaward extent of paralic coal occurrences can be mapped in successive time slices through the Paleocene and Eocene to provide a series of straight to gently arcuate surrogate palaeoshorelines within the petroliferous Latrobe Group. Palaeogeographic reconstructions that incorporate this information provide a unique perspective on the changes affecting a siliciclastic depositional system on a passive continental margin where basin development has been primarily controlled by thermal sag. In contrast, the absence of calcareous marine fossils and lack of extensive, widespread and thick fine-grained sediments on the marine shelf and continental slope, beyond the seaward limits of coal accumulation, have contributed to the false impression that the Latrobe Group accumulated in a largely non-marine basin. Based on the proposed model for palaeoshoreline delineation, seismic data, sequence analysis, petrography and palynology can be integrated to subdivide the main depositional environments into distinct facies associations that can be used to predict the distribution of petroleum systems elements in the basin. The application of such palaeogeographic models to the older section of the Latrobe Group can improve the identification of these petroleum systems elements in as yet unexplored parts of the Gippsland Basin. Given the recent attention paid to the basin as a CO2 storage province, palaeogeographic interpretations may be able to assist with the selection of appropriate injection sites.

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