PETROLEUM IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA: A REVIEW OF EXPLORATION, PRODUCTION, AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

1975 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 72
Author(s):  
Phillip E. Playford
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Oil Reserves ◽  
The North ◽  
Recent Success ◽  
Northern Carnarvon Basin ◽  
Exploration Activity ◽  
Carnarvon Basin

Modern petroleum exploration has been in progress in Western Australia since 1952, and has been concentrated mainly in the Perth, Carnarvon, Canning, and Bonaparte Gulf Basins. Two large onshore fields have been developed, the Barrow Island oilfield in the Carnarvon Basin (found in 1964), and the Dongara gasfield in the Perth Basin (found in 1966). Small gasfields have also been developed at Mondarra, Gingin, and Walyering in the Perth Basin, but Gingin and Walyering are now virtually depleted.Major gas-condensate fields have been found offshore. These are the North Rankin, Goodwyn, West Tryal Rocks, and Angel fields in the northern Carnarvon Basin, and the Scott Reef field in the Browse Basin. They were found during the period 1971 to 1973, but none has yet been developed.Since 1968 the accent has been on offshore exploration, and this reached a peak in 1972. Exploration activity, both onshore and offshore, is currently declining, owing to the lack of recent success and the unfavourable exploration climate prevailing in Australia today.Original reserves in the Dongara gasfield amounted to about 13 billion cubic metres, of which nearly 2.1 billion have now been produced. Current gas production from Dongara and the small adjoining Mondarra field is about 2.2 million cubic metres per day, and production will continue at about this rate until 1981, after which it will begin declining. Production will fall steeply in 1987, when existing contracts expire. At that time about 90% of the reserves will have been depleted.The original in-place reserves of the Barrow Island oil-field amounted to some 750 million barrels, and it is expected that about 240 million will be recovered. Current oil production is around 37,000 barrels per day, compared with the peak of 48.000 barrels per day reached in 1970. Nearly 43% of the original reserves have now been produced.Total reserves of the major fields in the offshore northern Car-narvon Basin (in the proved and probable categories) are more than 345 billion cubic metres of gas and 320 million barrels of condensate. Of these amounts more than 220 billion cubic metres of gas and 180 million barrels of condensate are in the North Rankin field, which is the largest gasfield in Australia and is a giant by world standards. This is followed by Goodwyn (about 65 billion cubic metres of gas and 90 million barrels of condensate), West Tryal Rocks (more than 30 billion cubic metres of gas) and Angel (about 30 billion cubic metres of gas and 50 million barrels of condensate).Further drilling will be required before gas reserves of the Scott Reef field can be estimated, but the results of the first well and the size of the structure indicate that they could be very large. It is clear that future exploration in Western Australia will be mainly concentrated offshore, in the Carnarvon, Browse, Bonaparte Gulf, and Perth Basins. However, there are still some prospective onshore areas in the Perth, Carnarvon, and Canning Basins.The chances of finding giant oilfields in Western Australia have declined markedly in recent years, as It seems that the generative sequences are mainly gas prone, and most of the obvious structures have now been drilled. However, the prospects are good for further large gas discoveries, and there is a reasonable chance that significant oil reserves will also be found.

CARNARVON BASIN ARCHITECTURE AND STRUCTURE DEFINED BY THE INTEGRATION OF MINERAL AND PETROLEUM EXPLORATION TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

2002 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 287 ◽  
Author(s):  
L.L. Pryer ◽  
K.K. Romine ◽  
T.S. Loutit ◽  
R.G. Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Mineral Exploration ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Block Rotation ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Northern Carnarvon Basin ◽  
Migration Pathways ◽  
Carnarvon Basin

The Barrow and Dampier Sub-basins of the Northern Carnarvon Basin developed by repeated reactivation of long-lived basement structures during Palaeozoic and Mesozoic tectonism. Inherited basement fabric specific to the terranes and mobile belts in the region comprise northwest, northeast, and north–south-trending Archaean and Proterozoic structures. Reactivation of these structures controlled the shape of the sub-basin depocentres and basement topography, and determined the orientation and style of structures in the sediments.The Lewis Trough is localised over a reactivated NEtrending former strike-slip zone, the North West Shelf (NWS) Megashear. The inboard Dampier Sub-basin reflects the influence of the fabric of the underlying Pilbara Craton. Proterozoic mobile belts underlie the Barrow Sub-basin where basement fabric is dominated by two structural trends, NE-trending Megashear structures offset sinistrally by NS-trending Pinjarra structures.The present-day geometry and basement topography of the basins is the result of accumulated deformation produced by three main tectonic phases. Regional NESW extension in the Devonian produced sinistral strikeslip on NE-trending Megashear structures. Large Devonian-Carboniferous pull-apart basins were introduced in the Barrow Sub-basin where Megashear structures stepped to the left and are responsible for the major structural differences between the Barrow and Dampier Sub-basins. Northwest extension in the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian marks the main extensional phase with extreme crustal attenuation. The majority of the Northern Carnarvon basin sediments were deposited during this extensional basin phase and the subsequent Triassic sag phase. Jurassic extension reactivated Permian faults during renewed NW extension. A change in extension direction occurred prior to Cretaceous sea floor spreading, manifest in basement block rotation concentrated in the Tithonian. This event changed the shape and size of basin compartments and altered fluid migration pathways.The currently mapped structural trends, compartment size and shape of the Barrow and Dampier Sub-basins of the Northern Carnarvon Basin reflect the “character” of the basement beneath and surrounding each of the subbasins.Basement character is defined by the composition, lithology, structure, grain, fabric, rheology and regolith of each basement terrane beneath or surrounding the target basins. Basement character can be discriminated and mapped with mineral exploration methods that use non-seismic data such as gravity, magnetics and bathymetry, and then calibrated with available seismic and well datasets. A range of remote sensing and geophysical datasets were systematically calibrated, integrated and interpreted starting at a scale of about 1:1.5 million (covering much of Western Australia) and progressing to scales of about 1:250,000 in the sub-basins. The interpretation produced a new view of the basement geology of the region and its influence on basin architecture and fill history. The bottom-up or basement-first interpretation process complements the more traditional top-down seismic and well-driven exploration methods, providing a consistent map-based regional structural model that constrains structural interpretation of seismic data.The combination of non-seismic and seismic data provides a powerful tool for mapping basement architecture (SEEBASE™: Structurally Enhanced view of Economic Basement); basement-involved faults (trap type and size); intra-sedimentary geology (igneous bodies, basement-detached faults, basin floor fans); primary fluid focussing and migration pathways and paleo-river drainage patterns, sediment composition and lithology.

PESA Australian exploration review 2018

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 493
Author(s):  
D. Lockhart ◽  
D. Spring
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
3D Seismic ◽  
The North ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Gippsland Basin ◽  
2D And 3D ◽  
Conventional Oil ◽  
Exploration Activity ◽  
Offshore Petroleum

Available data for 2018 indicates that exploration activity is on the rise in Australia, compared to 2017, and this represents a second year of growth in exploration activity in Australia. There has been an increase in area under licence by 92 000 km2, reversing the downward trend in area under licence that commenced in 2014. Since 2016, exploratory drilling within Australia has seen a continued upward trend in both the number of wells drilled and the percentage of total worldwide. Onshore, 77 conventional exploration and appraisal wells were spudded during the year. Offshore, exploration and appraisal drilling matched that seen in 2017, with five new wells spudded: two in the Roebuck Basin, two in the Gippsland Basin and one in the North Carnarvon Basin. Almost 1500 km of 2D seismic and over 10 000 km2 of 3D seismic were acquired within Australia during 2018, accounting for 2.4% and 3.9% of global acquisition, respectively. This represents an increase in the amount of both 2D and 3D seismic acquired in Australia compared with 2017. Once the 2017 Offshore Petroleum Acreage Release was finalised, seven new offshore exploration permits were awarded as a result. A total of 12 bids were received for round one of the 2018 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Release, demonstrating an increase in momentum for offshore exploration in Australia. The permits are in Commonwealth waters off Western Australia, Victoria and the Ashmore and Cartier islands. In June 2018, the Queensland Government announced the release of 11 areas for petroleum exploration acreage in onshore Queensland, with tenders closing in February/March 2019; a further 11 areas will be released in early 2019. The acreage is a mix of coal seam gas and conventional oil and gas. Victoria released five areas in the offshore Otway Basin within State waters. In the Northern Territory, the moratorium on fracking was lifted in April, clearing the way for exploration to recommence in the 2019 dry season. With the increase in exploration has come an increase in success, with total reserves discovered within Australia during 2018 at just under 400 million barrels of oil equivalent, representing a significant increase from 2017. In 2018, onshore drilling resulted in 18 new discoveries, while offshore, two new discoveries were made. The most notable exploration success of 2018 was Dorado-1 drilled in March by Quadrant and Carnarvon Petroleum in the underexplored Bedout Sub-basin. Dorado is the largest oil discovery in Australia of 100 million barrels, or over, since 1996 and has the potential to reinvigorate exploration in the region.

The 2017 offshore acreage release areas: petroleum geological overview

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 304
Author(s):  
Thomas Bernecker ◽  
Steve Abbott ◽  
George Bernardel ◽  
Megan Lech ◽  
Ryan Owens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Management System ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Seismic Survey ◽  
Data Repository ◽  
Technical Program ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
Northern Carnarvon Basin ◽  
Offshore Petroleum

In 2017, 21 new offshore petroleum exploration areas have been released. The majority of the areas are located along the North West Shelf spanning the Westralian Superbasin from the Bonaparte Basin in the north-east to the Northern Carnarvon Basin in the south-west. New areas have been released in offshore south-eastern Australia with new opportunities provided in the Otway, Bass and Gippsland basins. Two large areas in the northern Perth Basin, an offshore frontier, complete the 2017 Acreage Release. All Release Areas are supported by industry nominations and one new cash bid area has been offered in the Dampier Sub-basin. Geoscience Australia continues to support industry activities by acquiring, interpreting and integrating pre-competitive datasets that are made freely available as part of the agency’s regional petroleum geological studies. A new regional 2D seismic survey was acquired in the Houtman Sub-basin of the Perth Basin, forming the basis of the latest prospectivity study carried out by Geoscience Australia. The results of the study are presented in the technical program of the 2017 APPEA conference. A wealth of seismic and well data, submitted under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGSSA) are made available through the National Offshore Petroleum Information Management System (NOPIMS). Additional datasets are accessible through Geoscience Australia’s data repository.

PETROLEUM PLAY ELEMENT PREDICTION FOR THE CRETACEOUS-TERTIARY BASIN PHASE, NORTHERN CARNARVON BASIN

1997 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 315 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. K. Romine ◽  
J. M. Durrant ◽  
D. L. Cathro ◽  
G. Bernardel
Keyword(s):  
Focal Point ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Predictive Tool ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
The North ◽  
Northern Carnarvon Basin ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Play Elements ◽  
Migration Pathways ◽  
Carnarvon Basin

A regional tectono-stratigraphic framework has been developed for the Cretaceous and Tertiary section in the Northern Carnarvon Basin. This framework places traditional observations in a new context and provides a predictive tool for determining the temporal occurrence and spatial distribution of the lithofacies play elements, that iss reservoir, source and seal.Two new, potential petroleum systems have been identified within the Barremian Muderong Shale and Albian Gearle Siltstone. These potential source rocks could be mature or maturing along a trend that parallels the Alpha Arch and Rankin Platform, and within the Exinouth Sub-basin.A favourable combination of reservoir and seal can be predicted for the early regressive part of the Creta- ceous-Tertiary basin phase (Campanian-Palaeocene). Lowstand and transgressive (within incised valleys) reservoirs are more likely to be isolated and encased in sealing shales, similar to lowstand reservoir facies deposited during the transgressive part of the basin phase, for example, the M. australis sand play.The basin analysis revealed the important role played by pre-existing Proterozoic-Palaeozoic lineaments during extension, and the subsequent impact on play elements, in particular, the distribution of reservoir, fluid migration, and trap development. During extension, the north-trending lineaments influenced the compart mentalisation of the Northern Carnarvon Basin into discrete depocentres. Relay ramp-style accommodation zones developed, linking the sub-basins, and acting as pathways for sediment input into the depocentres and, later in the basin's history, as probable hydrocarbon migration pathways. The relay accommodation zones are a dynamic part of the basin architecture, acting as a focal point for response to intraplate stresses and the creation, modification and destruction of traps and migration pathways.

NEOCOMIAN EUSTATIC CHANGES — BIOSTRATIGRAPHIC EVIDENCE FROM THE CARNARVON BASIN

1979 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 66 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.F. Wiseman
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Northern Carnarvon Basin ◽  
Carnarvon Basin

A fall in sea level of approximately 200m affected the northern Carnarvon Basin of Western Australia during the earliest Neocomian. This was followed by a brief lowstand and then a basin-wide flooding beginning in the Late Valanginian or Early Hauterivian. Maps showing the pattern of inundation as the sea level rose reflect the palaeotopography of the basin at the time. These maps are derived from the age of the base of the onlapping sequence, namely the Winning Group. The ages are based on a palynological zonation of the Neocomian to Early Aptian.

GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS IN THE DISCOVERY OF GIANT OIL FIELDS

1973 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 3
Author(s):  
P. E Kent
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Continental Margins ◽  
Lateral Plate ◽  
Vertical Movements ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Northern Alaska

The paper gives the case histories of discovery in three major oil field areas-Iran, northern Alaska and the North Sea. These areas differ in their regional features and in the consequent requirements for geological and geophysical investigation and delineation. In Iran the earlier discoveries were based entirely on surface geology; geophysics became important with the need for deep survey. In northern Alaska structures mapped at surface gave only minor shows. Seismic surveys following geological deductions on reservoir development led to discovery of the giant Prudhoe Bay field near the Arctic coast. In the North Sea, in the much more complex extension of Permian-Mesozoic basins already well known on land, location of structures has been entirely by seismic survey.There is no close relation between the new Global Tectonics and the location of major oil field belts. The factors controlling the latter are multiple and complex. Resolution of the relative importance of vertical (epeirogenic) displacement as against the effect of lateral plate movement is nevertheless critical, particularly in Alaska.There is at present a large unresolved discrepancy between the times at which some continental margins developed (North Atlantic, East and West Indian Ocean) and with the physical evidence of sea floor spreading. In the three areas quoted, breakdown of the continental margins by vertical movements started in the Permian (—280 million years), but spreading is dated as beginning only in the late Cretaceous (—70 million years). It is the earlier movements, unexplained by current global theories, which have most relevance for petroleum exploration.

Controls on the preservation of Jurassic volcanism in the Northern Carnarvon Basin

2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 600
Author(s):  
Michael Curtis ◽  
Simon Holford ◽  
Mark Bunch ◽  
Nick Schofield
Keyword(s):  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Volcanic Centre ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Igneous Provinces ◽  
Australian Continent ◽  
Northern Carnarvon Basin ◽  
Uplift And Erosion ◽  
Carnarvon Basin

The Northern Carnarvon Basin (NCB) forms part of the North West Australian margin. This ‘volcanic’ rifted margin formed as Greater India rifted from the Australian continent through the Jurassic, culminating in breakup in the Early Cretaceous. Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous syn-rift intrusive magmatism spans 45000km2 of the western Exmouth Plateau and the Exmouth Sub-basin; however, there is little evidence of associated contemporaneous volcanic activity, with isolated late Jurassic volcanic centres present in the central Exmouth Sub-basin. The scarcity of observed volcanic centres is not typical of the extrusive components expected in such igneous provinces, where intrusive:extrusive ratios are typically 2–3:1. To address this, we have investigated the processes that led to the preservation of a volcanic centre near the Pyrenees field and the Toro Volcanic Centre (TVC). The volcanic centre near the Pyrenees field appears to have been preserved from erosion associated with the basin-wide KV unconformity by fault-related downthrow. However, the TVC, which was also affected by faulting, is located closer to the focus of regional early Cretaceous uplift along the Ningaloo Arch to the south and was partly eroded. With erosion of up to 2.6km estimated across the Ningaloo Arch, which, in places, removed all Jurassic strata, we propose that the ‘Exmouth Volcanic Province’ was originally much larger, extending south from the TVC into the southern Exmouth Sub-basin prior to regional uplift and erosion, accounting for the ‘missing’ volume of extrusive igneous material in the NCB.

The Beryl Field, Block 9/13, UK North Sea

1991 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Knutson ◽  
I. C. Munro
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Middle Jurassic ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Upper Jurassic ◽  
Lower Jurassic ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Upper Triassic ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
The North

AbstractThe Beryl Field, the sixth largest oil field in the UK sector of the North Sea, is located within Block 9/13 in the west-central part of the Viking Graben. The block was awarded in 1971 to a Mobil operated partnership and the 9/13-1 discovery well was drilled in 1972. The Beryl A platform was emplaced in 1975 and the Beryl B platform in 1983. To date, ninety-five wells have been drilled in the field, and drilling activity is anticipated into the mid-1990s.Commercial hydrocarbons occur in sandstone reservoirs ranging in age from Upper Triassic to Upper Jurassic. Structurally, the field consists of a NNE orientated horst in the Beryl A area and westward tilted fault blocks in the Beryl B area. The area is highly faulted and complicated by two major and four minor unconformities. The seal is provided by Upper Jurassic shales and Upper Cretaceous marls.There are three prospective sedimentary sections in the Beryl Field ranked in importance as follows: the Middle Jurassic coastal deltaic sediments, the Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic continental and marine sediments, and the Upper Jurassic turbidites. The total ultimate recovery of the field is about 800 MMBBL oil and 1.6 TCF gas. As of December 1989, the field has produced nearly 430 MMBBL oil (primarily from the Middle Jurassic Beryl Formation), or about 50% of the ultimate recovery. Gas sales are scheduled to begin in the early 1990s. Oil and gas production is forecast until licence expiration in 2018.The Beryl Fields is located 215 miles northeast of Aberdeen, about 7 miles from the United Kingdom-Norwegian boundary. The field lies within Block 9/13 and covers and area of approximately 12 000 acres in water depths ranging from 350-400 ft. Block 9/13 contains several hydrocarbon-bearing structures, of which the Beryl Fields is the largest (Fig. 1). The field is subdivided into two producing areas: the Beryl Alpha area which includes the initial discovery well, and the Beryl Bravo area located to the north. The estimated of oil originally in place is 1400 MMBBL for Beryl A and 700 MMBBL for Beryl B. The fiel has combined gas in place of 2.8 TCF, consisting primarily of solution gas. Hydrocarbon accumulations occur in six reservoir horizons ranging in age from Upper Triassic to Upper Jurassic. The Middle Jurassic (Bathonian to Callovian) age Beryl Formation is the main reservoir unit and contains 78% of the total ultimate recovery.The field was named after Beryl Solomon, the wife of Charles Solomon, who was president of Mobil Europe in 1972 when the field was discovered. The satellite fields in Block 9/13 (Nevis, Ness and Linnhe) are named after Scottish lochs.

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