Eromanga Basin
Type of resources
Keywords
Publication year
Service types
Topics
-
Publicly available groundwater data have been compiled to provide a common information base to inform environmental, resource development and regulatory decisions in the Cooper Basin region. This web service summarises salinity, water levels, resource size, potential aquifer yield and surface water–groundwater interactions for the Eromanga Basin located within the Cooper Basin region.
-
Publicly available data was compiled to provide a common information base for resource development, environmental and regulatory decisions in the Eromanga Basin region. This web service summarises shale resources and coal seam gas prospectivity of the Eromanga Basin.
-
Publicly available data was compiled to provide a common information base for resource development, environmental and regulatory decisions in the Eromanga Basin region. This web service summarises shale resources and coal seam gas prospectivity of the Eromanga Basin.
-
Publicly available groundwater data have been compiled to provide a common information base to inform environmental, resource development and regulatory decisions in the Galilee Basin region. This web service summarises salinity, water levels, resource size, potential aquifer yield and surface water–groundwater interactions for the Eromanga Basin located within the Galilee Basin region.
-
<div>We have investigated whether water-saturated residual oil zones (ROZs), sometimes associated with conventional Australian hydrocarbon plays, could provide a CO2 storage resource and supplement depleted field storage. Our petrophysical study demonstrates that ROZs occur in Australia’s hydrocarbon-rich regions, particularly in the Cooper-Eromanga Basin. ROZs with more than 10% residual oil saturation are uncommon, likely due to small original oil columns and lower residual saturations retained in sandstone reservoirs than in classic, carbonate-hosted North American ROZs. Extensive, reservoir-quality rock is found below the deepest occurring conventional oil in many of the fields in the Eromanga Basin, potentially offering significant CO2 storage capacity. Multiphase compositional flow modelling was used to estimate the CO2 storage efficiency of typical Australian ROZs. We developed a novel modelling methodology that first captures oil migration events leading to the formation of ROZs. Modelling CO2 storage over a 20-year injection period demonstrates that CO2-oil interactions increase the density and viscosity of CO2, enhancing CO2 sweep efficiency and lateral flow, improving storage efficiency. The extent of these effects depends on the quantity and spatial distribution of residual oil in place and the miscibility of CO2 at reservoir conditions. Presented at the Australian Energy Producers (AEP) Conference & Exhibition (https://energyproducersconference.au/conference/)
-
<div>This data package provides depth and isochore maps generated in support of the energy resource assessments under the Australia’s Future Energy Resources (AFER) project. Explanatory notes are also included.</div><div><br></div><div>The AFER project is part of Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) Program—an eight year, $225 million Australian Government funded geoscience data and precompetitive information acquisition program to inform decision-making by government, community and industry on the sustainable development of Australia's mineral, energy and groundwater resources. By gathering, analysing and interpreting new and existing precompetitive geoscience data and knowledge, Geoscience Australia is building a national picture of Australia’s geology and resource potential. This will help support a strong economy, resilient society and sustainable environment for the benefit of all Australians. The EFTF program is supporting Australia’s transition to a low emissions economy, industry and agriculture sectors, as well as economic opportunities and social benefits for Australia’s regional and remote communities. Further details are available at http://www.ga.gov.au/eftf.</div><div><br></div><div>The depth and isochore maps are products of depth conversion and spatial mapping seismic interpretations by Szczepaniak et al. (2023) and Bradshaw et al. (2023) which interpreted 15 regional surfaces. These surfaces represent the top of play intervals being assessed for their energy resource potential (Figure 1). These seismic datasets were completed by play interval well tops by Bradshaw et al. (in prep), gross depositional environment maps, zero edge maps by Bradshaw et al. (in prep), geological outcrop data as well as additional borehole data from Geoscience Australia’s stratigraphic units database.</div><div><br></div><div>Depth and isochore mapping were undertaken in two to interactive phases; </div><div><br></div><div>1. A Model Framework Construction Phase – In this initial phase, the seismic interpretation was depth converted and then gridded with other regional datasets. </div><div><br></div><div>2. A Model Refinement and QC Phase – This phase focused on refining the model and ensuring quality control. Isochores were generated from the depth maps created in the previous phase. Smoothing and trend modelling techniques were then applied to the isochore to provide additional geological control data in areas with limited information and to remove erroneous gridding artefacts. </div><div><br></div><div>The final depth maps were derived from isochores, constructing surfaces both upward and downward from the CU10_Cadna-owie surface, identified as the most data-constrained surface within the project area. This process, utilizing isochores for depth map generation, honours all the available well and zero edge data while also conforming to the original seismic interpretation.</div><div><br></div><div>This data package includes the following datasets: </div><div><br></div><div>1) Depth maps, grids and point datasets measured in meters below Australian Height Datum (AHD, for 15 regional surfaces (Appendix A). </div><div>2) Isochore maps, grids and point datasets measured in meters, representing 14 surfaces/play internals (Appendix B).</div><div> </div><div>These depth and isochore maps are being used to support the AFER Project’s play-based energy resource assessments in the Pedirka and western Eromanga basins, and will help to support future updates of 3D geological and hydrogeological models for the Great Artesian Basin by Geoscience Australia.</div><div><br></div>
-
<div>Geoscience Australia and CSIRO have collaborated, under the Exploring for the Future program, to investigate whether water-saturated residual oil zones (ROZs), sometimes associated with conventional Australian hydrocarbon plays, could provide a CO2 storage resource and enhance the storage capacity of depleted fields. This product is part of a larger project that includes, among others, a reservoir modelling component. </div><div>This report focuses on our petrophysical module of work that investigated the occurrence and character of ROZs in onshore Australian basins. Our findings demonstrate that ROZs occur in Australia’s hydrocarbon-rich regions, particularly in the Cooper-Eromanga Basin. ROZs with more than 10% residual oil saturation are uncommon, likely due to small original oil columns and lower residual saturations retained in sandstone reservoirs than in classic, carbonate-hosted North American ROZs. Extensive, reservoir-quality rock is found below the deepest occurring conventional oil in many of the fields in the Eromanga Basin, potentially offering significant CO2 storage capacity. </div><div>For more information about this project and to access the related studies and products, see: https://www.eftf.ga.gov.au/carbon-co2-storage-residual-oil-zones. </div><div><br></div>
-
The Cooper Basin is an upper Carboniferous-Middle Triassic intracratonic basin in northeastern South Australia and southwestern Queensland (Gravestock et al., 1998; Draper, 2002; McKellar, 2013; Carr et al., 2016; Hall et al., 2015a). The basin is Australia's premier onshore hydrocarbon producing province and is nationally significant in providing gas to the eastern Australian gas market. The basin also hosts a range of unconventional gas play types within the Permian Gidgealpa Group, including basin-centred gas and tight gas accumulations, deep dry coal gas associated with the Patchawarra and Toolachee formations, the Murteree and Roseneath shale gas plays and deep coal seam gas in the Weena Trough (e.g. Goldstein et al., 2012; Menpes et al., 2013; Greenstreet, 2015). The principal source rocks for these plays are the Permian coals and coaly shales of the Gidgealpa Group (Boreham & Hill, 1998; Deighton et al., 2003; Hall et al., 2016a). Mapping the petroleum generation potential of these source rocks is critical for understanding the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the basin. Geoscience Australia, in conjunction with the Department of State Development, South Australia and the Geological Survey of Queensland, have recently released a series of studies reviewing the distribution, type, quality, maturity and generation potential of the Cooper Basin source rocks (Hall et al., 2015a; 2016a; 2016b, 2016c; 2016d). Petroleum systems models, incorporating new Cooper Basin kinetics (Mahlstedt et al., 2015), highlight the variability in burial, thermal and hydrocarbon generation histories for each source rock across the basin (Hall et al., 2016a). A Geoscience Australia record 'Cooper Basin Petroleum Systems Analysis: Regional Hydrocarbon Prospectivity of the Cooper Basin, Part 3' providing full documentation of the model input data, workflow and results is currently in press. This work provides important insights into the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the basin (Hall et al., 2015b; Kuske et al., 2015). This product contains the working Cooper Basin Trinity-Genesis-KinEx petroleum systems model used to generate the results presented in these studies. This includes maps describing thickness, TOC and original HI for the following Permian source intervals: Toolachee Fm coals and coaly shales Daralingie Fm coals and coaly shales Roseneath Shale Epsilon Fm coals and coaly shales Murteree Shale Patchawarra Fm coals and coaly shales This model is designed for use as a regional scale hydrocarbon prospectivity screening tool. Model resolution is not high enough for this product to be used for sub-basin to prospect scale analysis, without further modification. However, the model provides a regional framework, into which more detailed prospect scale data may be embedded. The systematic workflow applied demonstrates the importance of integrated geochemical and petroleum systems modelling studies as a predictive tool for understanding the petroleum resource potential of Australia's sedimentary basins.
-
<div>This Geoscience Australia Record summarises the collection, analysis and results of three Global Positioning System (GPS) campaign surveys conducted in 2015, 2016 and 2019 in the northern Surat Basin, Queensland, Australia. During each campaign, we collected at least seven continuous days of GPS observations at each of the 65 sites of a geodetic network established by Geoscience Australia in 2014. Our analysis of the collected GPS data reveals statistically significant downward vertical ground surface movement between 2015 and 2016, 2015 and 2019, or both, at 18 of the 65 geodetic sites. Two of the 18 sites have recorded downward vertical ground surface movement of more than 100 millimetres: SB36 near Miles (125 mm) and SB49 near Wandoan (218 mm). Further work is required to help better resolve the temporal and spatial pattern of ground surface movement in the northern Surat Basin. This could include further GPS campaign surveys, analysis of GPS data from continuously operating reference sites in south-east Queensland, and a detailed comparison of surface deformation observed with GPS and interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data; extending on the work described in McCubbine et al. (2022).</div><div><br></div>
-
<div>The Permian Pedirka, the Triassic Simpson and the Jurassic–Cretaceous western Eromanga basins in central Australia have undergone a sporadic exploration history which commenced in the 1950s. Exploration initially focused on conventional hydrocarbons from the 1950s–1980s, before shifting towards coal seam gas (CSG) opportunities in the 2000s. The basins remain underexplored with only 42 wells drilled, and ~16,000 line km of 2D seismic acquired across a study area of ~210,000 km2. An active petroleum system has been proven by a non-commercial oil discovery at Poolowanna 1, as well as by several wells that show evidence of residual oil columns. However, sparse and low-quality seismic data make it challenging to map and identify new energy resource opportunities. Geoscience Australia, the Northern Territory Geological Survey, and the South Australian Department for Energy and Mining are collaborating on the Australia’s Future Energy Resources (AFER) project to undertake an assessment of the resource potential for conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons and the carbon capture and storage (CCS) potential in the Pedirka, Simpson and western Eromanga basins. The project’s objective is to produce spatially-enabled and risked resource estimates to provide government and industry stakeholders with decision making tools to address the region’s energy resources and CCS potential. Post-drill analysis is a key component of evaluating the resource potential of a region by ensuring that a systematic, data-driven approach is used to evaluate discrete exploration play intervals and trapping mechanisms. The study area has been divided into 16 chronostratigraphic play intervals and post-drill analysis has been undertaken to evaluate the presence and effectiveness of the main conventional petroleum systems play elements of reservoir, seal, trap and hydrocarbon charge. The post-drill analysis methodology to assess conventional hydrocarbons has also been modified to assess the geological elements that are essential to evaluate unconventional petroleum resources and CCS potential within the study area. The qualitative results indicate conventional hydrocarbon, CCS, CSG and shale hydrocarbon opportunities across multiple plays, highlighting that an area that has been primarily explored for one resource type in the past may have other opportunities for industry to evaluate. This Abstract was submitted/presented to the 2022 Central Australian Basins Symposium IV (CABS) 29-30 August (https://agentur.eventsair.com/cabsiv/)