Publicly available baseline ecology data are compiled to provide a common information base for environmental, resource development and regulatory decisions in the Cooper Basin region. This web service summarises existing knowledge of the ecosystems and environmental assets in the Cooper Basin region.

Publicly available geology data are compiled to provide a common information base for resource development, environmental and regulatory decisions in the Cooper Basin region. This data guide gives examples of how these data can be used and supports the data package that provides the existing knowledge of the key geological intervals of the Cooper Basin and the overlying Eromanga and Lake Eyre basins. The key geological intervals identified by the Trusted Environmental and Geological Information (TEGI) Program for resource assessment and groundwater system characterisation are termed play intervals and hydrostratigraphic intervals respectively. The Cooper Basin includes 7 plays, which are consolidated into 1 hydrostratigraphic interval. Overlying the Cooper Basin are 9 play intervals of the Eromanga Basin, which are consolidated into 7 hydrostratigraphic intervals and 1 Cenozoic play interval and 1 hydrostratigraphic interval for the Lake Eyre Basin. The geological groups and formations included in the play and hydrostratigraphic intervals are summarised in the stratigraphic charts of Wainman et al. (2023). Gross depositional, depth structure and thickness maps are provided with 3D model and cross-sections summarising the geology of the Cooper Basin and the overlying basins. The mapped depths and thicknesses of the key intervals are used to inform resource assessments and provide the framework for assigning groundwater data to hydrostratigraphic intervals.

The Australian Government’s $225 million Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program is committed to supporting a strong economy, resilient society and sustainable environment for the benefit of Australians (https://www.ga.gov.au/eftf). At its heart, the program is about stimulating industry now to ensure a sustainable, long-term future for Australia through an improved understanding of the nation’s minerals, energy and groundwater resource potential. By gathering and analysing geological and geophysical data and making the results publicly available, the program supports regional development and informed decision making across Australia, resulting in jobs and growth. The Energy component of this program is designed to produce pre-competitive information to assist with the evaluation of the hydrocarbon resource potential of onshore basins and attract exploration investment to Australia. As part of the EFTF Natural Hydrogen module, molecular and isotopic analyses were undertaken by Geoscience Australia on natural gas samples from the wells Canunda 2 and Ralgnal 1 from the southwestern margin of the Patchawarra Trough in the Cooper Basin, with the raw data from these analyses being released in this report. Some data from these wells were included in the nationwide studies of helium and hydrogen, as published by Boreham et al. (2018; 2021), and build on previous studies that document the composition of Australian natural gases (Boreham et al., 2001). These data are available through the Geoscience Australia portal at https://portal.ga.gov.au/

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.

The Geological and Bioregional Assessments (GBA) Program is a series of independent scientific studies undertaken by Geoscience Australia and the CSIRO, supported by the Bureau of Meteorology, and managed by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. The Program consists of three stages across three regions with potential to deliver gas to the East Coast Gas Market. Stage 1 was a rapid regional prioritisation conducted by Geoscience Australia, to identify those sedimentary basins with the greatest potential to deliver shale and/or tight gas to the East Coast Gas Market within the next five to ten years. This prioritisation process assessed 27 onshore eastern and northern Australian basins with shale and/or tight gas potential. Further screening reduced this to a shortlist of nine basins where exploration was underway. The shortlisted basins were ranked on a number of criteria. The Cooper Basin, the Beetaloo Sub-basin and the Isa Superbasin were selected for more detailed assessment. Stage 2 of the program involved establishing a baseline understanding of the identified regions. Geoscience Australia produced regional geological evaluations and conceptualisations that inform the assessment of shale and/or tight gas prospectivity, ground- and surface-water impacts, and hydraulic fracturing models. Geoscience Australia’s relative prospectivity assessments provide an indication of where viable petroleum plays are most likely to be present. These data indicate areal and stratigraphic constraints that support the program’s further work in Stage 3, on understanding likely development scenarios, impact assessments, and causal pathways. <b>Citation:</b> Hall Lisa S., Orr Meredith L., Lech Megan E., Lewis Steven, Bailey Adam H. E., Owens Ryan, Bradshaw Barry E., Bernardel George (2021) Geological and Bioregional Assessments: assessing the prospectivity for tight, shale and deep-coal resources in the Cooper Basin, Beetaloo Subbasin and Isa Superbasin. <i>The APPEA Journal</i><b> 61</b>, 477-484. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ20035

Publicly available data was compiled to provide a common information base for resource development, and environmental and regulatory decisions in the Cooper Basin. This web service summarises the geological storage of carbon dioxide prospectivity of the Cooper Basin.

Publicly available baseline surface water data are compiled to provide a common information base for resource development and regulatory decisions in the Cooper Basin region. This data guide captures existing knowledge of the catchments and watercourses overlying the Cooper Basin, including streamflow quality and quantity, inundation, and climatological data. The Cooper Basin underlies 3 surface water catchments: the Diamantina River, Cooper Creek and Bulloo River. All 3 rivers follow a similar flow pattern, with most of the run-off generated in the higher rainfall headwater areas (outside the Cooper Basin) before flowing down into extensive floodplains and ending up in terminal lake systems. The data on the catchments overlying the Cooper Basin have been summarised at a point in time to inform decisions on resource development activities. Key data sources are the Water Monitoring Information Portal (Queensland Government), Water Data Online (Bureau of Meteorology), DEA Water Observations (Geoscience Australia) and Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network.

The Cooper Basin is Australia's premier onshore hydrocarbon producing province and hosts a range of conventional and unconventional gas play types. This study investigates the petroleum generation potential of the basin's major Permian source rocks, to improve regional understanding of the basin's hydrocarbon prospectivity. Source rock distribution, thickness, present-day amount of total organic carbon (TOC), quality (Hydrogen Index) and maturity were mapped across the basin, together with original source quality maps prior to the on-set of generation. Results of the source rock property mapping and basin-specific kinetics were integrated with 1D burial and thermal history models and a 3D basin model to create a regional pseudo-3D petroleum system model for the basin. The modelling outputs quantify the spatial distribution of both the maximum possible hydrocarbon yield, as well as the oil/ gas expelled and retained, for ten Permian source rocks. Monte Carlo simulations were used to quantify the uncertainty associated with hydrocarbon yields and to highlight the sensitivity of results to each input parameter. The principal source rocks are the Permian coal and coaly shales of the Gidgealpa Group, with highest potential yields from the Patchawarra Formation coals and coaly shales. The broad extent of the Cooper Basin's Permian source kitchen and its large total generation potential (P50 scenario >2000 bboe) highlights the basin¿s significance as a world-class hydrocarbon province. The difference between the P90 (~800 bboe) and P10 (>4000 bboe) scenarios demonstrate the range of uncertainties inherent in this modelling.

<div>The Australian Government's Trusted Environmental and Geological Information (TEGI) program is a collaboration between Geoscience Australia and the CSIRO that aims to provide access to baseline geological and environmental data and information for strategically important geological basins. The initial geological focus is on the north Bowen, Galilee, Cooper, Adavale, and their overlying basins. This paper presents seven stratigraphic frameworks from these basin regions that underpin groundwater, environmental and resource assessments, identify intervals of resource potential, and can assist in management of associated risks to groundwater resources and other environmental assets. The construction of stratigraphic frameworks for this program builds upon existing lithostratigraphic schemes to capture the current state of knowledge. The frameworks incorporate play divisions for resource and hydrogeological assessments. A total of 33 play intervals are defined for the north Bowen, Galilee, Cooper, Adavale, and their overlying basins, using chronostratigraphic principles. Where possible, unconformities and flooding surfaces are used to define the lower and upper limits of plays. Data availability and temporal resolution are considered in capturing significant changes in gross depositional environments. The results from this work enable the consistent assessment of shared play intervals between basins, and also highlight uncertainties in the age and correlation of lithostratigraphic units, notably in the Galilee and north Bowen Basins.</div> This presentation was given at the 2023 Australasian Exploration Geoscience Conference (AEGC) 13-18 March, Brisbane (https://2023.aegc.com.au/)

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.