Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a central component of many proposed pathways to reach net zero CO2 emissions by 2050. Even under conservative estimates, successful deployment of CCS projects at scale will require a substantial investment in the selection and development of new sequestration sites. While several studies have considered the potential costs associated with individual sequestration projects, and others have evaluated the costs of capture and sequestration in a generic manner, few have examined how regional differences in transport distances and reservoir properties may affect the overall costs of sequestration projects. In this abstract, we outline a new model to assess the costs associated with new carbon sequestration projects. The model evaluates the cost of CCS projects accounting for regional variations in transport distance and cost and well the storage properties of individual reservoirs. We present preliminary results from the modelling tool, highlighting potential opportunities for new CCS projects.

In May 2013, Geoscience Australia, in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Marine Science, undertook a marine survey of the Leveque Shelf (survey number SOL5754/GA0340), a sub-basin of the Browse Basin. This survey provides seabed and shallow geological information to support an assessment of the CO2 storage potential of the Browse sedimentary basin. The basin, located on the Northwest Shelf, Western Australia, was previously identified by the Carbon Storage Taskforce (2009) as potentially suitable for CO2 storage. The survey was undertaken under the Australian Government's National CO2 Infrastructure Plan (NCIP) to help identify sites suitable for the long term storage of CO2 within reasonable distances of major sources of CO2 emissions. The principal aim of the Leveque Shelf marine survey was to look for evidence of any past or current gas or fluid seepage at the seabed, and to determine whether these features are related to structures (e.g. faults) in the Leveque Shelf area that may extend to the seabed. The survey also mapped seabed habitats and biota to provide information on communities and biophysical features that may be associated with seepage. This research, combined with deeper geological studies undertaken concurrently, addresses key questions on the potential for containment of CO2 in the basin's proposed CO2 storage unit, i.e. the basal sedimentary section (Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous), and the regional integrity of the Heyward Formation (the seal unit overlying the main reservoir). The survey collected one hundred and eleven seabed sediment samples that were analysed for their grain size, textural composition and carbonate content. This dataset includes the results of grain size analysis measured by laser diffractometer.

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

In April 2015 Geoscience Australia (GA) acquired 908 km (full-fold) Gippsland Southern Margin Infill 2D Seismic data using Gardline's M/V Duke. The survey is designed to better resolve the Foster Fault System and provide better integration between the GDPI10 survey and the existing surveys in the central deep. The data underwent pre-stack depth migration with a deghosting algorithm during processing. The dataset includes intermediate processing products as well as final preSTM and preSDM and associated velocities.

This dataset shows the spatial locations of potential CO2 storage regions that are at an advanced stage of characterisation and/or development and are expected to be operating by 2030. The areas considered to be at an advanced stage are parts of the Cooper Basin in central Australia, a portion of the Surat Basin (Queensland) and the offshore Gippsland Basin (Victoria), where the CarbonNet Project is currently at an advanced stage of development. We have also considered the offshore Barrow Sub-basin (part of the Northern Carnarvon Basin) (WA), where the Gorgon CO2 Injection Project is occurring on Barrow Island. An earlier version of this dataset was originally published in Feitz et al (2019) “Prospective hydrogen production regions of Australia” and the current version has been updated to include a portion of the offshore Petrel Sub-basin (Bonaparte Basin), offshore Northern Territory. This dataset is used in Geoscience Australia's Hydrogen Economic Fairways Tool (HEFT), which is available for public use at the AusH2 website or at ga.gov.au/heft. This dataset is published with the permission of the CEO, Geoscience Australia.

This web service shows the spatial locations of potential CO2 storage sites that are at an advanced stage of characterisation and/or development. The areas considered to be at an advanced stage are parts of the Cooper Basin in central Australia, a portion of the Surat Basin (Queensland), the offshore Gippsland Basin (Victoria), where the CarbonNet Project is currently at an advanced stage of development and the Petrel Sub-basin. This service will be presented in the AusH2 Portal.

This Record forms part of a study under the Exploring For The Future (EFTF) program (2020-2024). The Residual Oil Zone Project was designed to understand and identify residual oil zones in Australia, with the aim of developing this potential hydrocarbon and CO2 geological storage resource through CO2–Enhanced Oil Recovery. The work presented here is a collaborative study between Geoscience Australia and GeoGem Consultants. Residual Oil Zones (ROZ) represent a new and potentially viable oil resource for Australia, while at the same time providing a means to use and store carbon dioxide (CO2) through the application of CO2 enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR). These naturally water-flooded and water-saturated reservoirs, which contain a moderate amount of residual oil, can be associated with conventional fields (brownfields) or occur with no associated main pay zone (greenfields). Both types of ROZ are currently produced commercially through CO2-EOR in the USA, and are of growing interest internationally, but have not yet been explored in Australia. CO2-EOR has been in widespread practice in the USA since the oil shocks of the 1970’s. While tertiary CO2 injection usually targets oil remaining in fields that have been subject to water-flooding, there has been a parallel adoption of practices to recover vast amounts of paleo-oil that existed when many of these reservoirs were much fuller, before relatively recent (in geologic time) events caused structural and seal changes, resulting in natural water-flooding and/or migration of much of the oil out of the reservoir. The Permian Basin in Texas contains many examples where such Residual Oil Zones (ROZ’s) were found beneath conventional oil reservoirs. These ROZ are unproductive to conventional water flood operations but offer the possibility of an extra 9-15% recovery (of the ROZ OIP at discovery). This work reviews the lessons or insights that can be gained from the USA regarding ROZ field developments.

Statements of existing knowledge are compiled for known mineral, coal, hydrocarbon and carbon capture and storage (CCS) resources and reserves in the Galilee Basin region. This data guide illustrates the current understanding of the distribution of these key resource types within the Galilee Basin region based on trusted information sources. It provides important contextual information on the Galilee Basin and where additional details on discovered resources can be found. The Galilee Basin region contains 6 known metallic mineral deposits, with most of these containing the critical mineral vanadium. There are 17 coal deposits found in the basin containing thermal and metallurgical coal. The primary form of coal in the deposits is thermal coal. The Galilee Basin hosts large coal tonnages, with known black coal resources of approximately 33 billion tonnes. The Galilee Basin and overlying basins are known to contain significant hydrocarbon resources. The majority of the known hydrocarbon resources are found in the Julia Creek oil shale deposits located in the Eromanga Basin above the Galilee Basin. Moderate coal seam gas (CSG) resources have also been identified in the basin; however, conventional gas resources are more limited. At this time, there are no active or planned Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) projects in the basin.

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 data was compiled to provide a common information base for resource development, and environmental and regulatory decisions in the Eromanga Basin. This data guide gives examples of how these data can be used to create the components of a workflow to identify geological storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) opportunities. The data guide is designed to support the data package that provide insights on the geological storage of CO2 in the Eromanga Basin. The geological storage of CO2 assessment for the Eromanga Basin overlying the Cooper, Adavale and Galilee basins encompasses 6 of the 9 geological intervals, termed plays – these intervals have been defined by Wainman et al. (2023a, b). The assessment captures data from the Great Artesian Basin geological and hydrogeological surfaces update (Vizy and Rollet, 2022), Queensland Petroleum Exploration Database (QPED) from the Geological Survey of Queensland (GSQ) Open Data Portal (2020a), the Petroleum Exploration and Production System of South Australia (PEPS, 2021); Bradshaw et al. (2009) and Draper (2002) along with the scientific literature to inform the 4 components required for a prospective geological storage of CO2 system. These datasets are used to map out gross depositional environments and their geological properties relevant for geological storage of CO2 assessments. From these datasets, the following properties were evaluated and mapped across the basin: injectivity, storage efficiency, containment and structural complexity. The data are compiled at a point in time to inform decisions on resource development opportunities. The data guide outlines the play-based workflow for assessing geological storage of CO2 prospectivity. Each of the elements required for a prospective geological storage of CO2 system are explained and mapped. These data were merged and spatially multiplied to show the relative assessment of geological storage of CO2 prospectivity across the basin, both at a play interval and basin scale. As an example of assessments contained within the data package, this data guide showcases the geological storage of CO2 prospectivity of the Namur-Murta Play interval.