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Source Rocks and Hydrocarbon Fluids of the Browse Basin

The Browse Basin is located offshore on Australia’s North West Shelf and is a proven hydrocarbon province hosting gas with associated condensate. Oil reserves in the area are small with most in-place oil likely the result of hydrocarbon fluids experiencing pressures less than their saturation pressure resulting in dual phase fluids, coupled with secondary alteration processes and gas leakage. This study reviews the distribution, quality and maturity of source rocks and fluid characteristics in the Browse Basin.

All publicly-available Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and Rock-Eval pyrolysis data were compiled and quality checked to determine multiple, viable source rock units. Jurassic and Cretaceous source rock distributions and net thickness were studied using integrated seismic and well log lithofacies mapping, combined with organic geochemistry data. Source rock transformation ratio and generation potential were investigated using a regional pseudo-3D petroleum systems model constructed from new seismic interpretations and calibrated using temperature and maturity data from 34 wells.

Results show that the Jurassic Plover Formation (J10-J20 supersequences) coals and carbonaceous shales are effective, primarily gas-prone source rocks which may have some liquid potential when the generated gas migrates into shallow reservoirs at reduced pressures. Additional sources of hydrocarbons include shales in the Upper Jurassic lower Vulcan Formation (J40 supersequence), Lower Cretaceous upper Vulcan Formation (K10 supersequence) and Echuca Shoals Formation (K20-K30 supersequences). However, these are likely to have only expelled hydrocarbons locally in areas of optimal organic-richness and maturity. Key uncertainties include TOC and HI variability due to lack of well penetration in the depocentres.

The molecular composition of the fluids were compiled and quality checked and used to investigate the relationship between the saturation pressure and condensate-gas ratio (CGR). By combining the bulk properties and molecular and isotopic compositions of the fluids with the geochemical compositions of the source rocks in a petroleum systems model, four Mesozoic petroleum systems have been identified and mapped to help understand the source rock potential and fluid characters for the Browse Basin.

Simple

Identification info

Date (Creation)
2017-10-31T11:00:00
Date (Publication)
2017-11-03T01:04:23
Citation identifier
Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/http://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/114262

Cited responsible party
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Co-author

Palu, T.J.

Co-author

Hall, L.S.

Co-author

Edwards, D.S.

Co-author

Grosjean, E.

Co-author

Rollet, N.

Co-author

Boreham, C.J.

Co-author

Buckler, T.

Co-author

Higgins, K.

Co-author

Nguyen, D.

Co-author

Khider, K.

Status
Point of contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Co-author

Palu, T.J.

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice
Resource provider

RD

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice
Spatial representation type
Topic category
  • Geoscientific information

Extent

N
S
E
W


Maintenance and update frequency
Not planned

Resource format

Title

Product data repository: Various Formats

Website

Data Store directory containing the digital product files

Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes

Place
  • Browse Basin

Theme
  • Source rocks

Theme
  • Hydrocarbon fluids

Theme
  • Petroleum systems

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification: Fields of Research
  • Earth Sciences

Keywords
  • Published_External

Resource constraints

Title

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence

Alternate title

CC-BY

Edition

4.0

Website

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

Access constraints
License
Use constraints
License

Resource constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified
Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8

Distribution Information

Distributor contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Distributor

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice
OnLine resource

Download the poster (pdf)

Download the poster (pdf)

Distribution format
  • pdf

Resource lineage

Statement

Not applicable

Hierarchy level
Document

Metadata constraints

Title

Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem

Edition date
2018-11-01T00:00:00
Website

https://www.protectivesecurity.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx

Classification
Unclassified

Metadata

Metadata identifier
urn:uuid/c5341af8-74be-40fa-b028-62a634c83a20

Title

GeoNetwork UUID

Language
English
Character encoding
UTF8
Contact
Role Organisation / Individual Name Details
Point of contact

Hall, L.S.

Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)

Voice

Type of resource

Resource scope
Document
Name

GA publication: Poster

Alternative metadata reference

Title

Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with

uuid

Citation identifier
eCatId/114262

Metadata linkage

https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/c5341af8-74be-40fa-b028-62a634c83a20

Date info (Creation)
2017-10-04T23:12:04
Date info (Revision)
2018-04-20T05:51:51

Metadata standard

Title

AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-1:2014

Metadata standard

Title

ISO 19115-3

Title

Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014

Edition

Version 2.0, September 2018

Citation identifier
https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551

 
 

Spatial extent

N
S
E
W


Keywords

Hydrocarbon fluids Petroleum systems Source rocks
Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification: Fields of Research
Earth Sciences

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