The spectral signature of an about 1 micrometer thick oil slick has been identified from airborne hyperspectral data (HyMap sensor) acquired over a floating oil production facility located on the North West Shelf of Australia. The paper describes spectral characteristrics of the signature and identifies conditions in which it can be observed.

Within the Central Australian region, nominally constrained by 22.5oS 134oE and 31.5oS 144oE for this study, lie several systems of stacked basins beneath the extensive Mesozoic Eromanga Basin. Remnants of Proterozoic basins are largely inferred from gravity, unexplored, and are not everywhere differentiated from an extensive cover of the lower Palaeozoic Warburton Formation. This sequence is the central link between the contiguous Amadeus, Officer and Georgina Basins, and the Thomson Fold Belt. Since the Carboniferous, the region has largely experienced intracratonic sag and has accumulated continental sediments, including thick coal measures, with intermittent tectonism and uplift. In late Early Cretaceous, marine conditions briefly invaded this subsiding region, but continental sedimentation resumed in the Late Cretaceous. Tectonism occurred in the Tertiary with basin inversion and subsequent formation of the Great Artesian Basin. In the Cainozoic, the region is again in subsidence and accommodating fluvial and aeolian sediment slowly into the Eyre Basin. The preserved depocentres of the Carboniferous-Permian-Triassic Cooper, Pedirka-Simpson, and Galilee Basins are spatially separate, although all contain comparable, largely organically-mature continental coal measure sequences.

Legacy product - no abstract available

Petroleum accumulations have been discovered in the Bonaparte, Browse and Carnarvon basins over the last fifty years. However, a regional synthesis of the geochemistry of these North West Shelf hydrocarbons has not been published. To address this, this study documents the biomarker and isotopic analyses of ~300 North West Shelf oils/condensate samples that have been statistically characterised into genetically related families. Carbon and hydrogen isotopic signatures of ~50 gas samples, together with existing molecular data for ~1000 gas samples, show regional trends in wetness and abundance of non-combustible gases. These petroleum accumulations can be attributed to source rocks of Early Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic and Early Cretaceous age; however, most economic oil and gas accumulations are sourced from Mesozoic (Triassic Jurassic) sediments. The oils produced from the Bonaparte (Vulcan Sub-basin, northern Bonaparte) and Carnarvon (Dampier, Barrow and Exmouth sub-basins) basins are geochemically similar, being sourced from Late Jurassic marine rift-fill sediments (lower Vulcan Formation/Dingo Claystone) that contain variable amounts of terrigenous (particularly gymnosperm-derived) organic matter. Variations in their biomarker signatures can be explained by maturity differences, multiple charging and secondary alteration processes. Gas produced from the northern Rankin Platform is predominantly sourced from Triassic Jurassic fluvio-deltaic sediments. Proven and potential supergiant and giant gas accumulations occur in the deepwater areas of the North West Shelf. Case studies focussing on the geochemistry of the outer Browse (Scott Reef trend) and Carnarvon (deepwater Exmouth Plateau and Rankin Platform) gas accumulations will be presented with emphasis on d13C and d2H isotopic data.

Car traverses were made in several directions over an area of 30 miles square with Coorabin as a centre, with the object of delimiting, if possible, the margins of the coal basin. The results of the geological survey are summarised herein.

It appears that the hydrocarbon exploration industry will be able to enjoy today's vibrant times for years to come. In the current climate of high oil prices and ongoing expansion of global energy needs, many companies find themselves in the pursuit of new prospective acreage. It has long been acknowledged that Australia's early Palaeozoic sedimentary basins are largely under-explored. This may be partly due to the lack of infrastructure and partly due to the perceived high risk involved in committing to an expensive exploration program in remote areas. From a regional geological perspective however, several provinces can be earmarked as candidates that may emerge as future hydrocarbon producers. These include the western extension of the prolific Cooper/Eromanga hydrocarbon province (Pedirka and Warburton basins in SA, NT), the Georgina Basin (NT, Qld), the Amadeus Basin (NT, WA), the Officer Basin (SA, WA) and the southern Canning Basin (Kidson-Sub-basin, WA). As part of Geoscience Australia's Onshore Energy Security Program, new radiometric and aeromagnetic data have been acquired with the aim to better image crustal features such as regional tectonic lineaments that control basin evolution. A significant part of the program is devoted to the acquisition of deep seismic surveys over key areas in which petroleum systems are known to exist. Such surveys will target major basin-bounding lineaments and basinal deeps in order to improve the understanding of basin-fill processes. The effects of tectonism on the occurrence and preservation of petroleum systems elements is of particular interest. While source rocks are likely to be available in virtually all target areas, the distribution of permeable reservoir facies needs to be delineated. Moreover, trap configurations are crucially important to assess and the integrity of the sealing facies needs to be ascertained.

Sandstone deposits are important sources of uranium, accounting for approximately 20 percent of global production, largely through in situ leach (ISL) mining. Most of this production has come from deposits in the western US, Niger and Kazakhstan. In Australia, sandstone-hosted uranium is being produced from the Beverley deposit in the Frome Embayment of South Australia, and a second ISL mine is under development at Honeymoon in the same region. Such deposits form where uranium-bearing oxidised ground waters moving through sandstone aquifers react with reducing materials. The locations of ore zones and the sizes of mineral deposits depend, amongst other factors, on the abundance and the reactive nature of the reductant. Hence the nature and abundance of organic material in the ore-bearing sedimentary sequence may be of critical importance in the formation of sandstone uranium deposits. In sandstones rich in organic material (containing debris of fossil plants or layers of authigenic organic material) the organic materials either reduce uranium directly with bacteria as a catalyst, or result in production of biogenic H2S. In sandstones relatively poor in organic material, that the reduction can be caused either by the introduction of hydrocarbons and/or H2S from oil/gas fields within underlying sediments; or by H2S produced from the interaction of oxidised ground water with pyrite in the sandstone aquifer. This paper outlines the geology of the world-class sandstone uranium deposits in the Chu-Sarysu and Syr-Darya Basins in the south-central portion of Kazakhstan, which are hosted by sandstones relatively poor in organic matter. It highlights the crucial role of that hydrocarbons appear to have played in the formation of these and other large sandstone type uranium deposits. Based on the model developed, it is concluded that there is considerable potential in Australia for discovery of large sandstone hosted uranium mineralisation, including in little explored regions underlain by basins with known or potential hydrocarbons.

On the eve of London's Olympic year this title is apt as Australia's first petroleum well in more than 2 km of water is drilled, exploration has pushed to the very margins of the continent and is more widely spread across the onshore basins than at any time since in the early 1980s. In the year 2000, Sydney's Olympic year, Australia had one LNG project exporting 6.9 million tonnes and total energy exports were worth A$25.7 billion including A$7.6 billion for crude oil, A$2.7 billion for LNG and A$10.8 billion for coal. In the intervening decade Australia has asserted itself as the energy powerhouse in the Asian region, LNG exports have nearly tripled, two LNG hubs are in operation and three new LNG projects are under construction. In 2010, the export value of energy commodities included A$11 billion for crude oil, A$9.5 billion for LNG and about A$50 billion for coal.

Legacy product - no abstract available

Legacy product - no abstract available