This petroleum systems summary report provides a compilation of the current understanding of petroleum systems for the South Nicholson Basin and Isa Superbasin region. The contents of this report are also available via the Geoscience Australia Portal at https://portal.ga.gov.au/, called The Petroleum Systems Summary Assessment Tool (Edwards et al., 2020). Three summaries have been developed as part of the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program (Czarnota et al., 2020); the McArthur Basin, the Canning Basin, and a combined summary of the South Nicholson Basin and Isa Superbasin region. The petroleum systems summary reports aim to facilitate exploration by summarizing key datasets related to conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon exploration, enabling a quick, high-level assessment the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the region.

Publicly available geological data in the Cooper Basin region are compiled to produce statements of existing knowledge for natural hydrogen, hydrogen storage, coal and mineral occurrences. This data guide also contains assessment of the potential for carbon dioxide (CO2) geological storage and minerals in the basin region. Geochemical analysis of gas samples from petroleum in the basin shows various concentrations of natural hydrogen. However, the generation mechanism of the observed natural hydrogen concentration is still unknown. The mineral occurrences are all found in the overlying basins and are small and of little economic significance. The Cooper Basin has some potential for base metal and uranium deposits due to somewhat suitable formation conditions, but the depth of the basin makes exploration and mining difficult and expensive. This also applies to coal, where there are no identified occurrences or resources in the Cooper Basin. However, if some were identified, the depth of the basin would probably make extraction uneconomic, with the potential exception of coal seam gas extraction. CO2 geological storage assessment in the overlying Eromanga Basin suggests that most areas over the Cooper Basin (except over the Weena Trough in the south-west) are prospective for geological storage CO2.

Statements of existing knowledge are compiled for known mineral, coal, hydrocarbon and carbon capture and storage (CCS) resources and reserves in the Cooper Basin. This data guide illustrates the current understanding of the distribution of these key resource types within the Cooper Basin region based on trusted information sources. It provides important contextual information on the Cooper Basin and where additional details on discovered resources can be found. To date, mineral or coal deposits have not been found in the Cooper Basin, due to its depth. There are significant hydrocarbon resources found in the basin, including conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons. The Cooper Basin has been a major producer of oil and gas since the 1960s (Smith, Cassel and Evans, 2015). It is one of the largest sources of onshore hydrocarbon production in Australia. Some of the largest unconventional gas resources are contained in the basin. This is mostly basin-centred gas. The geology in the Cooper Basin is considered suitable for use in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects. The Cooper Basin and overlying Eromanga Basin contain 2 CCS projects that are currently being developed.

Publicly available geological data in the north Bowen Basin region are compiled to produce statements of existing knowledge for natural hydrogen, hydrogen storage, coal and mineral occurrences. This data guide also contains assessment of the potential for carbon dioxide (CO2) geological storage and minerals in the basin region. Geochemical analyses of gas samples from petroleum, coal and coal seam gas boreholes in the basin show traces of natural hydrogen. However, the generation mechanism of the observed natural hydrogen concentration is unknown. Numerous mineral occurrences are found in the basin. Most contain gold, which historically has often been mined. Most occurrences are small, with some exceptions, such as Cracow, Golden Plateau, Kauffman’s Prospect and Miclere gold deposits. The north Bowen Basin has potential for epithermal gold-silver and gold-copper deposits in the deeper formations, but the depth of much of the basin makes exploration and mining difficult and expensive. There is also potential for sandstone-hosted uranium and paleoplacer gold deposits in the upper coal-bearing formations, such as what is seen in the Miclere area. The north Bowen Basin has a significant quantity of coal, with 152 deposits found in the basin, totalling about 47 billion tonnes of black coal. The results of CO2 geological storage assessment of 3 play intervals in the north Bowen Basin suggest there is low storage potential within the basin.

Publicly available geological data in the Galilee Basin region are compiled to produce statements of existing knowledge for natural hydrogen, hydrogen storage, coal and mineral occurrences. This web service summarises mineral potential in the Galilee Basin region.

Publicly available geological data in the Cooper Basin region are compiled to produce statements of existing knowledge for natural hydrogen, hydrogen storage, coal and mineral occurrences. This web service summarises mineral potential in the Cooper Basin region.

Publicly available geological data in the Cooper Basin region are compiled to produce statements of existing knowledge for natural hydrogen, hydrogen storage, coal and mineral occurrences. This web service summarises mineral potential in the Cooper Basin region.

Publicly available geological data in the north Bowen Basin region are compiled to produce statements of existing knowledge for natural hydrogen, hydrogen storage, coal and mineral occurrences. This web service summarises potential mineral, natural hydrogen, coal and carbon dioxide geological storage in the north Bowen Basin region.

Publicly available geological data in the Adavale Basin region are compiled to produce statements of existing knowledge for natural hydrogen, hydrogen storage, coal and mineral occurrences. This data guide also contains an assessment of the potential for carbon dioxide (CO2) geological storage and minerals in the basin region. Geochemical analysis of gas samples from petroleum boreholes in the basin shows various concentrations of natural hydrogen. However, the generation mechanism of the observed natural hydrogen concentration is still unknown. The Adavale Basin also has the potential for underground hydrogen storage in the Boree Salt. Given the depth of the Boree Salt (wells have intersected the salt at depths below 1800 m) and the high fluid pressure gradient in the basin, the construction of underground salt caverns should include consideration of stability and volume shrinkage. Mineral occurrences are all found in the basins overlying the Adavale region. However, they are small (thousands of tonnes range) and not currently of economic interest. The Adavale Basin has potential for base and precious metal deposits due to suitable formation conditions, but the depth of the basin makes exploration and mining difficult and expensive. There are no identified occurrences or resources of coal in the Adavale Basin. Given the depth of the basin, extraction of any identified coal would probably be uneconomic, with the potential exception of coal seam gas extraction. An assessment of CO2 geological storage also shows prospective storage areas in the Eromanga Basin within the Adavale Basin region in the Namur-Murta and Adori-Westbourne play intervals.

Following the publication of Geoscience Australia record 2014/09: Petroleum geology inventory of Australia's offshore frontier basins by Totterdell et. al, (2014), the onshore petroleum section embarked upon a similar project for onshore Australian basins. The purpose of this project is to provide a thorough basis for whole of basin information to advise the Australia Government and other stakeholders, such as the petroleum industry, regarding the exploration status and prospectivity of onshore Australian basins. Eight onshore Australian basins have been selected for this volume and these include: the McArthur, South Nicholson, Georgina, Amadeus, Warburton, Wiso, Galilee and Cooper basins. This record provides a comprehensive whole of basin inventory of the geology, petroleum systems, exploration status and data coverage for these eight onshore Australian basins. It draws on precompetitive work programs by Geoscience Australia as well as publicly available exploration results and geoscience literature. Furthermore, the record provides an assessment of issues and unanswered questions and recommends future work directions to meet these unknowns.