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.

NEW PETROLEUM MODELS IN THE PEDIRKA BASIN, NORTHERN TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA

2002 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 259 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.J. Ambrose ◽  
K. Liu ◽  
I. Deighton ◽  
P.J. Eadington ◽  
C.J. Boreham
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Early Jurassic ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Hydrocarbon Expulsion ◽  
Migration Pathways

The northern Pedirka Basin in the Northern Territory is sparsely explored compared with its southern counterpart in South Australia. Only seven wells and 2,500 km of seismic data occur over a prospective area of 73,000 km2 which comprises three stacked sedimentary basins of Palaeozoic to Mesozoic age. In this area three petroleum systems have potential related to important source intervals in the Early Jurassic Eromanga Basin (Poolowanna Formation), the Triassic Simpson Basin (Peera Peera Formation) and Early Permian Pedirka Basin (Purni Formation). They are variably developed in three prospective depocentres, the Eringa Trough, the Madigan Trough and the northern Poolowanna Trough. Basin modelling using modern techniques indicate oil and gas expulsion responded to increasing early Late Cretaceous temperatures in part due to sediment loading (Winton Formation). Using a composite kinetic model, oil and gas expulsion from coal rich source rocks were largely coincident at this time, when source rocks entered the wet gas maturation window.The Purni Formation coals provide the richest source rocks and equate to the lower Patchawarra Formation in the Cooper Basin. Widespread well intersections indicate that glacial outwash sandstones at the base of the Purni Formation, herein referred to as the Tirrawarra Sandstone equivalent, have regional extent and are an important exploration target as well as providing a direct correlation with the prolific Patchawarra/Tirrawarra petroleum system found in the Cooper Basin.An integrated investigation into the hydrocarbon charge and migration history of Colson–1 was carried out using CSIRO Petroleum’s OMI (Oil Migration Intervals), QGF (Quantitative Grain Fluorescence) and GOI (Grains with Oil Inclusions) technologies. In the Early Jurassic Poolowanna Formation between 1984 and 2054 mRT, elevated QGF intensities, evidence of oil inclusions and abundant fluorescing material trapped in quartz grains and low displacement pressure measurements collectively indicate the presence of palaeo-oil and gas accumulation over this 70 m interval. This is consistent with the current oil show indications such as staining, cut fluorescence, mud gas and surface solvent extraction within this reservoir interval. Multiple hydrocarbon migration pathways are also indicated in sandstones of the lower Algebuckina Sandstone, basal Poolowanna Formation and Tirrawarra Sandstone equivalent. This is a significant upgrade in hydrocarbon prospectivity, given previous perceptions of relatively poor quality and largely immature source rocks in the Basin.Conventional structural targets are numerous, but the timing of hydrocarbon expulsion dictates that those with an older drape and compaction component will be more prospective than those dominated by Tertiary reactivation which may have resulted in remigration or leakage. Preference should also apply to those structures adjacent to generative source kitchens on relatively short migration pathways. Early formed stratigraphic traps at the level of the Tirrawarra Sandstone equivalent and Poolowanna Formation are also attractive targets. Cyclic sedimentation in the Poolowanna Formation results in two upward fining cycles which compartmentalise the sequence into two reservoir–seal configurations. Basal fluvial sandstone reservoirs grade upwards into topset shale/coal lithologies which form effective semi-regional seals. Onlap of the basal cycle onto the Late Triassic unconformity offers opportunities for stratigraphic entrapment.

Legislating for Land Rights in Australia

2001 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Aboriginal People ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Land Rights ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Royal Commission ◽  
Land Trusts ◽  
Terra Nullius ◽  
History Of ◽  
Policy Work ◽  
The Government

A commitment in applied anthropological policy work to maximising cultural appropriateness or even to supporting what indigenous people say they want is not always possible. This proved to be the case in connection with formulating recommendations for land rights legislation in Australia's Northern Territory. Until 1992 the only rights in land that Aboriginal people had as the original occupiers of the continent were statutory (that is, through acts of state and federal parliaments). No treaties were signed with Aboriginal people and until that date the continent was treated as terra nullius, unowned, at the time of colonisation in 1788. From early on in the history of European colonisation, however, areas of land had been set aside for the use and benefit of Aboriginal people. These reserves were held by the government, or by one of a number of religious bodies that ministered to Aboriginal people, usually supported by government funding. Beginning with South Australia in 1966 all of the states, except Tasmania, have passed legislation that gives varying degrees of control of these reserves to land trusts governed by Aboriginal people. Each of these pieces of legislation had/have different shortcomings which included some or all of the following: the total area that had been reserved was small; the powers granted over the land were limited; the majority of the Aboriginal population did not benefit from the legislation; and none of them addressed the issue of self-determination. In 1973 a Royal Commission into Aboriginal Land Rights, with a single Commissioner, Mr. Justice Woodward, was established by the newly elected Federal Labor government, the first in 23 years. It was planned that it would deal with the continent but that it would begin by focusing on the Northern Territory which until 1978 was administered by the Federal government. At the time there were 25,300 Aboriginal people in the Territory making up 25% of the population.

New species of Banksieaeformis and a Banksia 'cone' (Proteaceae) from the tertiary of central Australia

2001 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 871 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Greenwood ◽  
Peter W. Haines ◽  
David C. Steart
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Leaf Type ◽  
Leaf Material ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Neogene Sediments ◽  
Central Australia ◽  
Leaf Impressions ◽  
Lobed Leaf

Silicified leaf impressions attributed to the tribe Banksieae (Proteaceae) are reported from a new Tertiary macroflora from near Glen Helen, Northern Territory and from the Miocene Stuart Creek macroflora, northern South Australia. The fossil leaf material is described and placed in Banksieaeformis Hill & Christophel. Banksieaeformis serratus sp. nov. is very similar in gross morphology to the extant Banksia baueri R.Br. and B. serrata L.f. and is therefore representative of a leaf type in Banksia that is widespread geographically and climatically within Australia and that is unknown in Dryandra or other genera of the Banksieae. The leaf material from Stuart Creek and Woomera represents the lobed leaf form typical of Paleogene macrofloras from southern Australia, but one species,B. langii sp. nov., is closely similar in gross form to Banksieaephyllum taylorii R.J.Carpenter, G.J.Jordan & R.S.Hill et al. from the Late Paleocene of New South Wales and similarly may be sclerophyllous. Also reported are impressions of Banksia infructescences, or ‘seed cones’, in Neogene sediments near Marree and Woomera, South Australia. These fossils demonstrate the presence of Banksiinae in central Australia in the mid-Tertiary, potentially indicating the former existence of linking corridors between now widely separated populations of Banksia.

Additional records of prey of the fat-tailed false antechinus Pseudantechinus macdonnellensis from central Australia.

2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 227 ◽  
Author(s):  
CJ Burwell ◽  
F Geiser ◽  
M Barritt ◽  
K May ◽  
CR Pavey
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
National Park ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Faecal Samples ◽  
Central Australia

THE fat-tailed false antechinus (Pseudantechinus macdonnellensis) is a medium-sized dasyurid marsupial (body mass 18-33 g), that is endemic to central Australia. It is largely confined to rocky environments in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia (Menkhorst and Knight 2001). Despite its specialised habitat, the species is a generalist insectivore. Ten insect orders and spiders (Araneae) were recorded in faecal samples of a population in West MacDonnell National Park, Northern Territory, during a two and a half year study (Gilfillan 2001). Isoptera, Coleoptera and Orthoptera were the major insect orders in the diet. Here we report the results of the analysis of a small sample of faeces of P. macdonnellensis collected from the same location as the population studied by Gilfillan. Our results are noteworthy because of additions to the prey taken by P. macdonnellensis including three new classes and two new phyla.

scholarly journals Central Arrernte

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavan Breen ◽  
Veronica Dobson
Keyword(s):  
South Australia ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
East Side ◽  
North Central ◽  
The North ◽  
Related Language ◽  
Central Australia

Central Arrernte is the language of an area centred on the present-day town of Alice Springs, in Central Australia. It is one of a group of dialects or closely-related languages spoken or formerly spoken over most of the southeast quarter of the Northern Territory and extending on the east side into the far-western part of Queensland; a slightly less closely-related language extends south into the north-central part of South Australia. They include varieties using the names Anmatyerr, Alyawarr and Antekerrepenh as well as several varieties using the name Arrernte with (nowadays) English geographical qualifiers. The major surviving varieties, Eastern, Central and Western Arrernte, Eastern and Western Anmatyerr, Southern and Northern Alyawarr each have several hundred to a thousand speakers, and are still being learned by many of the children, who grow up bilingual (in English) or multilingual. Breen (2001) is a brief introduction to the phonology of these languages.

Yirara – A Bi-Cultural College

1982 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-55
Author(s):  
D.H. Odling-Smee
Keyword(s):  
Vocational Education ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Boarding School ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Aboriginal Students ◽  
Central Australia ◽  
Education Courses

Yirara College is a secondary boarding school for tribal Aboriginal students from throughout Central Australia. The College is 8 kilometres from Alice Springs but takes students from 40 separate communities, in a radius of about 800 kilometres or more from Alice. This includes the southern two-thirds of the Northern Territory, and some communities in South Australia and Western Australia. TheCollege is entirely residential, and caters for male and female students. The curriculum, which follows Northern Territory Department guidelines, is aimed at adjusting students to reach Year 10 (the N.T. Junior School Certificate), and thereafter have the opportunity to enter various further education courses and colleges. Emphasis is also given to social education in its broadest sense, and vocational education. After leaving Yirara, the majority of students return to their own communities to fill positions of skill, where and when available.“They can’t be educated”, say the critics. “Send them south to boarding school, beyond the influences of tribalism”, say the unsympathetic. “Why try to school the young while the unschooled elders negate their new-found skills?” say the liberals. “Education is disruptive and diminishes tribal authority”, say the ignorant.

scholarly journals Transforming Customary Title to Individual Title: Revisiting the Cathedral

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 63
Author(s):  
Samantha Hepburn
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Complex Network ◽  
Land Rights ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Cultural Foundations ◽  
Territory Government

<p>At the date of writing, the proposed amendments to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 (NT) endorsing the transfer of customary ownership to the Northern Territory government in exchange for a re-grant of a sub-lease, had not yet been passed. This article examines the rationalisations underlying this proposed change and the broader implications for customary ownership. Individuated title cannot accurately encompass the cultural foundations of indigenous ownership because it is sourced in a different ontological perspective. It is argued that the transformation of customary ownership into individual title will destroy its unique communal foundation, dislocate indigenous ‘tenants’ from their customary identity and produce a complex network of fractionalised interests. It is argued that such a shift is ultimately a retrograde step which, as experience in the United States and New Zealand has clearly shown, cannot provide an economic solution for remote indigenous communities.</p>

A REVIEW OF THE RECENT EXPLORATION AND HYDROCARBON POTENTIAL OF THE AMADEUS BASIN, NORTHERN TERRITORY

1984 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Schroder ◽  
J. D. Gorter
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Data ◽  
Joint Venture ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Hydrocarbon Potential ◽  
The West ◽  
Gas Field ◽  
Single Fold ◽  
Oil And Gas Field ◽  
Active Exploration

Since commencing operatorship in the Amadeus Basin in June 1980, the Amadeus Joint Venture has acquired 3000 km of multifold seismic data and reprocessed 2500 km of existing single fold and multifold data. These data, integrated with geological, Landsat, gravity and airphoto information, led to the drilling of eight exploration wells, which resulted in two gas discoveries (in the Dingo 1 and West Walker 1 wells) and numerous additional oil and gas shows in the remaining wells.Interpretation of these multi-discipline data has enabled a number of significant structural trends and styles in the Amadeus Basin to be defined. Individual prospects within some of the major structural trends have now been tested by the drill. This paper describes the nature of these structural trends and illustrates geologically and geophysically typical examples of drilled prospects existing within these trends.The primary exploration targets in the Amadeus Basin are the Ordovician Stairway and Pacoota Sandstones (confirmed by the Mereenie Oil and Gas Field, Palm Valley Gas Field, and the West Walker gas discoveries) and the Precambrian-basal Cambrian Arumbera Sandstone (confirmed by the Dingo gas discovery). Geochemical and maturation data indicate that significant additional oil and gas accumulations can be discovered in these formations.Data from Dingo 1, Mt Winter 1 and Finke 1 have again indicated that significant quantities of both oil and gas have been generated in the Late Proterozoic sediments of the Basin. An active exploration program is continuing and will endeavour to confirm these expectations.

Trilobites and agnostids from the Goyder Formation (Cambrian Series 3, Guzhangian; Mindyallan), Amadeus Basin, central Australia

Zootaxa ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 4396 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
PATRICK M. SMITH ◽  
JOHN R. PATERSON ◽  
GLENN A. BROCK
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
South China ◽  
New South ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Victoria Land ◽  
Central Australia ◽  
North And South

A new assemblage containing twenty-two species of trilobites and agnostids is described from the Goyder Formation (Cambrian Series 3) in the Ross River Syncline and Gardiner Ranges of the Amadeus Basin, Northern Territory, central Australia. New trilobite taxa described include the genus, Trephina gen. nov., and four new species Adelogonus prichardi sp. nov., Hebeia stewarti sp. nov., Liostracina joyceae sp. nov., and Trephina ranfordi sp. nov. Two agnostid taxa previously known only from Antarctica, Ammagnostus antarcticus Bentley, Jago & Cooper, 2009 and Hadragnostus helixensis Jago & Cooper, 2005, are also documented. Of the two agnostid species, the latter is the most age diagnostic, previously reported from the Cambrian Series 3 (Guzhangian; late Mindyallan; Glyptagnostus stolidotus Zone) Spurs Formation in Northern Victoria Land. This age for the Goyder Formation assemblage is supported by the co-occurrence of the trilobites Biaverta reineri Öpik, 1967, Blackwelderia repanda Öpik, 1967, Henadoparia integra Öpik, 1967, Monkaspis cf. travesi (Öpik, 1967), Nomadinis pristinus Öpik, 1967, Paraacidaspis? priscilla (Öpik, 1967), and Polycyrtaspis cf. flexuosa Öpik, 1967, also known from the late Mindyallan (G. stolidotus Zone) successions of the neighbouring Georgina Basin (Northern Territory and Queensland). The generic assemblage of the Goyder Formation is also similar to those from the Guzhangian (Mindyallan) of other parts of Australia (New South Wales, South Australia, and Western Australia), in addition to East Antarctica and North and South China. 

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