The Cooper Basin is a late Carboniferous-Middle Triassic intracratonic basin in northeastern South Australia and southwestern Queensland. The basin is one of Australia's premier onshore hydrocarbon producing provinces and, by providing domestic gas for the East Coast Gas Market, is nationally significant. This study reviews the distribution, quality and maturity of source rocks across the Cooper Basin and forms part of Geoscience Australia's source rock program. All publicly-available total organic carbon (TOC) content and Rock-Eval pyrolysis data for the Cooper Basin were compiled into a single database, quality checked and compiled by well and formation to highlight the multiple viable source rock units throughout the Permian. The Toolachee and Patchawarra formations represent the principal source rocks in the basin. These comprise coals and carbonaceous shales deposited in fluvial deltaic and peat swamp environments and show good to very good oil and gas source potential. Additional source intervals include the gas prone lacustrine Roseneath and Murteree shales, as well as coals and carbonaceous shales of the Daralingie and Epsilon formations. Permian source rock distribution was investigated using lithofacies mapping combined with geochemistry data. Lithofacies maps published for South Australia were integrated with electrofacies data from Queensland to produce new, internally consistent, net source thickness maps for key intervals, including coals and carbonaceous shales of the Toolachee and Patchawarra formations, and the Roseneath and Murteree shales. Pyrolysis data that indicate the presence of an in-situ source rock with remaining hydrocarbon generation potential (i.e. TOC > 2% and S1+S2 > 3 mg hydrocarbons/g rock) were mapped by formation, demonstrating the broad extent of Permian source rocks across the basin. Toolachee and Patchawarra source rocks are present in most major depocentres, including the Windorah Trough and Ullenbury Depression in the northern part of the basin, where maximum coal thicknesses still reach more than 10 m. Source rocks within the Roseneath and Murteree shale are generally restricted to the southern Cooper Basin.

The Onshore Energy Systems Group have undertaken a regional study on the prospectivity of the southern Georgina Basin, and present here a synopsis of the initial results from this multidisciplinary project. The Georgina Basin is a Neoproterozoic to Lower Devonian sedimentary basin covering 325,000 km2 of western Queensland and the Northern Territory (Dunster et al., 2007; Kruse et al., 2013; Munson, 2014). It is a northwest-southeast-trending extensional basin, where thick marine Cambrian and Ordovician sediments are preserved in its two southern depocentres, the Dulcie and Toko synclines, and a thinner succession is present in the Undilla Sub-basin to the northeast. Within these depocentres, the Thorntonia Limestone and Arthur Creek Formation (Figure 1) contain potential source rocks (Ambrose et al., 2001; Boreham and Ambrose, 2012). Most of the southern Georgina Basin is under license for petroleum exploration, with explorers targeting the carbonate-dominated Arthur Creek Formation for both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons. A data package that includes raw and reprocessed HyLogging data from 25 wells in the Georgina Basin was recently released (Smith and Huntington, 2014). The HyLogging data map the mineralogical variations within formations and were used in conjunction with wireline log and biostratigraphic data to refine stratigraphic correlation. The HyLogging data were re-processed using a common set of mineral scalars (i.e., spectroscopic indices) to create an internally-consistent, basin-wide dataset. Other datasets, including total organic carbon (TOC) content, X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements and biostratigraphy were also integrated with the Hylogging data. The 'hot shale' of the Arthur Creek Formation has a characteristic spectral response of decreasing albedo and an increased short wave infra-red (SWIR) aspectral response with increasing depth to the base of the Arthur Creek Formation (Figure 2), which both appear to correlate with increasing core total gamma and TOC. These inter-relationships may be used to better characterise and identify potential source rock units in the basin. Recent biostratigraphic work has highlighted an age discrepancy in the prospective organic-rich `hot shale in the base of the middle Cambrian Arthur Creek Formation (Figure 1). This unit is present in the two major southern depocentres, the Dulcie and Toko synclines, where it has previously been considered as correlative. Recent results, however, suggest that the basal 'hot shale' is either significantly younger in the Toko Syncline than in the Dulcie Syncline, or represents a condensed section in the former. Middle Cambrian carbon isotope excursions have been correlated across a number of Australian basins and can be used to test correlative models across the Georgina depocentres. High resolution sampling across this middle Cambrian section has been carried out in a number of wells in the Dulcie Syncline and in the Undilla Sub-basin, where the age equivalent Inca Shale is penetrated. Carbon isotopes from organic carbon (kerogen) as well as carbon and oxygen isotope ratios of four carbonate mineral phases (calcite, ankerite, dolomite and siderite) were analysed and these data are compared with existing carbon isotope stratigraphy published from neighboring wells (Donnelly et al., 1988; Lindsay et al., 2005; Creveling et al., 2013). Initial results corroborate the new biostratigraphic interpretation.

Composite well log plots displaying Gamma Ray, Sonic and Caliper log curves, all open-file biostratigraphy and organic geochemistry data, show types and comments, lithology, casing, SWC and core locations, interpreted regional sequences and results of source rock modelling. All plots are in PDF and EPS format. Also contains Browse Basin timescale, biozonation and stratigraphy chart.

Updated USB drive containing GA-reports, maps in digital format to be handed out as promotioanl material at APPEA conference

No abstract available

The Australian Government formally releases new offshore exploration areas at the annual APPEA conference. These areas are located across various offshore hydrocarbon provinces ranging from mature basins with ongoing oil and gas production, to exploration frontiers. A total of 23 areas are released for work-program bidding and six areas for cash bidding. The two work-program bidding rounds will remain open until 29 October 2015 and 21 April 2016 respectively, while cash bid submissions will close on 4 February 2016. The 2015 Release Areas are located in thirteen distinct regional geological provinces across eight basins and all were supported by industry nominations. Six areas are located in the Bonaparte Basin, two of which are cash bid areas over the Turtle/Barnett oil accumulations. The Browse Basin is represented by three areas in the Caswell Sub-basin and one area on the Yampi Shelf. In support of recent exploration activities and success, one large area has been gazetted in the central Roebuck Basin. The Northern Carnarvon Basin offers eleven areas on the Exmouth Plateau and in the Dampier Sub-basin including four for cash bidding. This year, the usual predominance of North West Shelf Release Areas is counterbalanced by seven large areas in the Bight, Otway, Sorell and Gippsland basins. This includes one area in the Ceduna Sub-basin, three areas in the deep water Otway Basin, one area in the northern Sorell Basin and two areas in the south-eastern Gippsland Basin. Receiving nominations for these areas highlights the industry's interest in evaluating the hydrocarbon potential of Australia's underexplored southern margin. Geoscience Australia continues to support industry activities by acquiring, interpreting and integrating pre-competitive datasets that are made freely available as part of the agency's regional petroleum geological studies.

This dataset contains the 31 areas released as the 2013 Offshore Petroleum Acreage Release

No abstract available

In 2021, a total of 21 areas were released for offshore petroleum exploration. They are located in the Bonaparte Basin, Browse Basin, Northern Carnarvon Basin, Otway Basin, Sorell Basin and Gippsland Basin. Despite COVID-19 negatively impacting the industry, participation in the acreage release nomination process was again robust, however, as has been the case in recent years, industry interest is focussed on those areas that are close to existing discoveries and related infrastructure. In tune with the Australian government’s resource development strategy, the areas being offered for exploration are likely to supply extra volumes of natural gas, both for export to SE Asian markets and domestically to meet the forecasted shortage in eastern Australia. According to the 2019 implementation of a modified release process, only one period for work program bidding has been scheduled. The closing date for all submissions is Thursday, 3 March 2022. Geoscience Australia continues to support industry activities by acquiring, interpreting and integrating pre-competitive datasets that are made freely available in the context of the agency’s regional petroleum geological studies. As part of a multidisciplinary study, new data, including regional seismic and petroleum systems modelling for the Otway Basin is now available. Also, a stratigraphic/sedimentological review of the upper Permian to Early Triassic succession in the southern Bonaparte Basin has been completed, the results of which are being presented at this APPEA conference. Large seismic and well data sets, submitted under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGSSA) are made available through the National Offshore Petroleum Information Management System (NOPIMS). Additional data and petroleum related information can be accessed through Geoscience Australia’s data repository. Appeared in The APPEA Journal 61(2) 294-324, 2 July 2021

Australia is endowed with abundant, high quality energy resources, which provide both affordable and reliable energy for domestic use, and underpin our status as a major global energy provider. Australia continues to have the world’s largest economic uranium resources, the third largest coal resources, and substantial conventional and unconventional natural gas resources. Gas production has grown rapidly in recent years enabled by a series of new LNG projects on the North West Shelf, together with established CSG projects in Queensland. In 2019, Australia became the world’s largest LNG exporter on an annualised basis. Results from Geoscience Australia’s 2021 edition of the Australian Energy Commodity Resources assessment highlight that the nation’s energy commodity resources are widely distributed and include a significant resource potential in many onshore and offshore basins. Knowledge of the existing and untapped resource potential allows decision makers to prioritise development of energy resources that are able to support Australia’s recovery from the recent economic downturn. This aligns well with the Australian Government’s plans to support the development of natural gas resources in order to enable a rapid transition to a low carbon economy. A key component of Australia’s clean energy future and economic recovery will be the development of a hydrogen industry, with hydrogen produced either through electrolysis of water using renewable energy resources (green hydrogen), or manufactured from natural gas or through coal gasification with CCS of the co-produced CO2 (blue hydrogen). Geoscience Australia’s assessment includes a synopsis of the current status of Australia’s rapidly evolving hydrogen industry. Appeared in The APPEA Journal 61(2) 325-330, 2 July 2021