<div>Palynology preparations from 50 samples from several key wells in the South Australian section of the Pedirka Basin were examined for Geoscience Australia. The sampling was done by Carey Hannaford under inspection number 5358 (see table 1 for sample listing). All resulting slides and remaining residue have been submitted to government. The samples were analysed quantitatively with the first 200 specimens in each sample counted and subsequent species simply recorded as present. In this summary report, the results are provided in tabulated form only. Details of the palynomorph assemblages are recorded on StrataBugs distribution charts, with each taxon expressed as a percentage of the entire assemblage (Appendix B). From this information, assignments are made to the palynostratigraphic scheme of Price (1997), as shown in Figures 1 and 2 and summarised in Appendix A.</div><div>Wells included are: Erabena-1, Macumba-1, Mokari-1, Oolarinna-1, Pandieburra-1, Poolowanna-1, Poolowanna-2, Walkandi-1. </div><div>Also see accompanying report by Hannaford and Mantle, 2022: Palynological analysis of infill samples for selected wells in the Northern Territory section of the Pedirka Basin.</div>

<div>This Record presents data collected as part of the ongoing Northern Territory Geological Survey–Geoscience Australia SHRIMP geochronology project under the National Collaboration Framework agreement. New U-Pb SHRIMP zircon geochronological results were derived from six samples of sedimentary rocks collected from two petroleum exploration drillholes (CBM 107-001 and CBM 107-002) that intersect the Pedirka Basin in the southeastern corner of the Northern Territory.</div><div><br></div><div>Geologically, this is a region in the Simpson Desert that encompasses several superimposed intracratonic sedimentary basins, which are separated by regional unconformities extending over areas of adjoining Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales. In the southeastern corner of the Northern Territory, the Pedirka Basin is one of three stacked basins. The exposed Mesozoic Eromanga Basin overlies the late Palaeozoic to Triassic Pedirka Basin, which is largely restricted to the subsurface, and in turn overlies the Palaeozoic pericratonic Warburton Basin (Munson and Ahmad 2013).</div><div><br></div><div>As the Pedirka Basin is almost entirely concealed beneath the Eromanga Basin, our current understanding of the geology in this southeastern corner of the Northern Territory is constrained by a limited number of exploration drillholes and 2D seismic coverage (Doig 2022). The samples described herein were collected to aid in defining the chronostratigraphy and sedimentary provenance characteristics of the Pedirka Basin.</div><div><br></div><div>BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: Jones S.L., Jarrett A.J., Verdel C.S. and Bodorkos S. 2024. Summary of results. Joint NTGS–GA geochronology project: Pedirka Basin. Northern Territory Geological Survey, Record 2024-003.</div>

<diThe Permian and Triassic Pedirka and Simpson basins in central Australia have proven petroleum potential with a non-commercial oil discovery in the Poolowanna Trough and several wells showing evidence for residual oil columns. However, these basins remain underexplored with only 42 wells drilled and relatively sparse 2D seismic coverage. Consequently, our knowledge of the structural and stratigraphic framework of the basins continues to grow as new data sets are acquired. Understanding the area’s resource potential continues to improve as new insights are gained into the presence and effectiveness of the main risk elements (reservoir, seal, hydrocarbon charge and trapping mechanisms) associated with a variety of sub-surface resources. Geoscience Australia, the Northern Territory Geological Survey, and the South Australian Department of Energy and Mining are collaborating on the Australia’s Future Energy Resources project under the Exploring for the Future program. One of the aims of this collaborative project is to assess the resource potential for conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons and carbon capture and storage (CCS) resources in the Pedirka, Simpson and western Eromanga basins. A play-based exploration approach is being used to systematically evaluate the key risk elements for each regional reservoir-seal interval (i.e. (play intervals) through the analysis of drilling results and spatial data to map sweet spots. These assessments aim to reduce exploration uncertainties by providing spatially-enabled assessments of the energy resources and CCS potential of the region. A key requirement for undertaking play-based resource assessments is to develop a chronostratigraphic geological framework that defines the main regional play intervals. Regional play schemes have been developed and applied over several decades for petroleum explorers in Western Australia, but have not yet become readily available for explorers in central and eastern Australian onshore basins. This paper presents a chronostratigraphic play scheme that is being applied to resource assessments in the Pedirka and Simpson basins. The scheme includes two Triassic play intervals correlating to the Peera Peera and Walkandi formations, and three Permian play intervals correlating to the Purni Formation and the Crown Point Formation. This Abstract was submitted/presented to the 2022 Central Australian Basins Symposium IV (CABS) 29-30 August (https://agentur.eventsair.com/cabsiv/)

<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.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;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.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;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.&nbsp;</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)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Depth maps, grids and point datasets measured in meters below Australian Height Datum (AHD, for 15 regional surfaces (Appendix A). </div><div>2)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Isochore maps, grids and point datasets measured in meters, representing 14 surfaces/play internals (Appendix B).</div><div>&nbsp;</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>This document provides metadata for the gross depositional environment (GDE) interpretations that have been generated in support of the energy resource assessments under the Australia’s Future Energy Resources (AFER) project.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div>The AFER projects 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, we are 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.&nbsp;</div><div>The GDE data sets provide high level classifications of interpreted environments where sediments were deposited within each defined play interval in the Pedirka, Simpson and Western Eromanga basins. Twelve gross depositional environments have been interpreted and mapped in the study (Table 1). A total of 14 play intervals have been defined for the Pedirka, Simpson and Western Eromanga basins by Bradshaw et al. (2022, in press), which represent the main chronostratigraphic units separated by unconformities or flooding surfaces generated during major tectonic or global sea level events (Figure 1). These play intervals define regionally significant reservoirs for hydrocarbon accumulations or CO2 geological storage intervals, and often also include an associated intraformational or regional seal.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div>GDE interpretations are a key data set for play-based resources assessments in helping to constrain reservoir presence. The GDE maps also provide zero edges showing the interpreted maximum extent of each play interval, which is essential information for play-based resource assessments, and for constructing accurate depth and thickness grids.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div>GDE interpretations for the AFER Project are based on integrated interpretations of well log and seismic data, together with any supporting palynological data. Some play intervals also have surface exposures within the study area which can provide additional published paleo-environmental data. The Pedirka, Simpson and Western Eromanga basins are underexplored and contain a relatively sparse interpreted data set of 42 wells and 233 seismic lines (Figure 2). Well and outcrop data provide the primary controls on paleo-environment interpretations, while seismic interpretations constrain the interpreted zero edges for each play interval. The sparse nature of seismic and well data in the study area means there is some uncertainty in the extents of the mapped GDE’s.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div>The data package includes the following datasets:&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div>Play interval tops for each of the 42 wells interpreted – provided as an ‘xlsx’ file.&nbsp;</div><div>A point file (AFER_Wells_GDE) capturing the GDE interpretation for each of the 14 play intervals in each of the 42 wells – provided as both a shapefile and within the AFER_GDE_Maps geodatabase.&nbsp;</div><div>Gross depositional environment maps for each of the 14 play intervals (note that separate GDE maps have been generated for the Namur Sandstone and Murta Formation within the Namur-Murta play interval, and for the Adori Sandstone and Westbourne Formation within the Adori-Westbourne play interval) – provided as both shapefiles and within the AFER_GDE_Maps geodatabase.&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>These GDE data sets are being used to support the AFER Project’s play-based energy resource assessments in the Western Eromanga, Pedirka and Simpson basins.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div>

The document summarises new seismic interpretation metadata for two key horizons from Base Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous strata across the western and central Eromanga Basin, and the underlying Top pre-Permian unconformity. New seismic interpretations were completed during a collaborative study between the National Groundwater Systems (NGS) and Australian Future Energy Resources (AFER) projects. The NGS and AFER projects are part of Exploring for the Future (EFTF)—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, we are 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. The seismic interpretations build on previous work undertaken as part of the ‘Assessing the Status of Groundwater in the Great Artesian Basin’ (GAB) Project, commissioned by the Australian Government through the National Water Infrastructure Fund – Expansion (Norton & Rollet, 2022; Vizy & Rollet, 2022; Rollet et al., 2022; Rollet et al., in press.), the NGS Project (Norton & Rollet, 2023; Rollet et al., 2023; Vizy & Rollet, 2023) and the AFER Project (Bradshaw et al., 2022 and in press, Bernecker et al., 2022, Iwanec et al., 2023; Iwanec et al., in press). The recent iteration of revisions to the GAB geological and hydrogeological surfaces (Vizy & Rollet, 2022) provides a framework to interpret various data sets consistently (e.g., boreholes, airborne electromagnetic, seismic data) and in a 3D domain, to improve our understanding of the aquifer geometry, and the lateral variation and connectivity in hydrostratigraphic units across the GAB (Rollet et al., 2022). Vizy and Rollet (2022) highlighted some areas with low confidence in the interpretation of the GAB where further data acquisition or interpretation may reduce uncertainty in the mapping. One of these areas was in the western and central Eromanga Basin. New seismic interpretations are being used in the western Eromanga, Pedirka and Simpson basins to produce time structure and isochore maps in support of play-based energy resource assessment under the AFER Project, as well as to update the geometry of key aquifers and aquitards and the GAB 3D model for future groundwater management under the NGS Project. These new seismic interpretations fill in some data and knowledge gaps necessary to update the geometry and depth of key geological and hydrogeological surfaces defined in a chronostratigraphic framework (Hannaford et al., 2022; Bradshaw et al., 2022 and in press; Hannaford & Rollet, 2023). The seismic interpretations are based on a compilation of newly reprocessed seismic data (Geoscience Australia, 2022), as part of the EFTF program, and legacy seismic surveys from various vintages brought together in a common project with matching parameters (tying, balancing, datum correcting, etc.). This dataset has contributed to a consolidated national data coverage to further delineate groundwater and energy systems, in common data standards and to be used further in integrated workflows of mineral, energy and groundwater assessment. The datasets associated with the product provides value added seismic interpretation in the form of seismic horizon point data for two horizons that will be used to improve correlation to existing studies in the region. The product also provides users with an efficient means to rapidly access a list of core data used from numerous sources in a consistent and cleaned format, all in a single package. The following datasets are provided with this product: 1) Seismic interpretation in a digital format (Appendix A), in two-way-time, on key horizons with publically accessible information, including seismic interpretation on newly reprocessed data: Top Cadna-owie; Base Jurassic; Top pre-Permian; 2) List of surveys compiled and standardised for a consistent interpretation across the study area (Appendix B). 3) Isochore points between Top Cadna-owie and Base Jurassic (CC10-LU00) surfaces (Appendix C). 4) Geographical layer for the seismic lines compiled across Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory (Appendix D). These new interpretations will be used to refine the GAB geological and hydrogeological surfaces in this region and to support play-based energy resource assessments in the western Eromanga, Pedirka and Simpson basins.

<div>This data package provides petrophysical interpretations by Geoscience Australian and the South Australia Department for Energy and Mining (SADEM) for 23 wells generated in support of the energy resource assessments under the Australia’s Future Energy Resources (AFER) project in the Pedirka and western Eromanga basins. Interpreted petrophysical data in this data package include [BB1]&nbsp;[MB2]&nbsp;volume of clay/shale, porosity (total and effective), relative permeability, formation water salinity (NaCl equivalent), and apparent resistivity of water.</div><div>&nbsp;</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.This new data package consists of composite logs and supporting data which includes interpreted volume of clay/ shale, porosity, permeability and salinity.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>The data package includes the following datasets: </div><div>1)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Composite logs (PDF)</div><div>2)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Well logs (ASCII LAS)</div><div>3)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Well header information (Microsoft Excel™)[BB3]&nbsp;[MB4]&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>These petrophysical interpretations are being used to support the AFER Project’s play-based energy resource assessments in the Pedirka and western Eromanga basins by building 3D geological models that include derived rock property maps.

<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&nbsp;km of 2D seismic acquired across a study area of ~210,000&nbsp;km2. An active petroleum system has been proven by a non-commercial oil discovery at Poolowanna&nbsp;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/)

<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.&nbsp;</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>

Geoscience Australia commissioned reprocessing of selected legacy 2D seismic data in the Pedirka-Simpson Basin in South Australia-Northern Territory as part of the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program. 34 Legacy 2D seismic lines from the Pedirka Basin were reprocessed between May 2021 and January 2022 (phase 1). An additional 54 legacy 2D seismic lines (34 lines from Pedirka Basin, South Australia and 20 lines from Simpson Basin, Northern Territory) were reprocessed between November 2021 and June 2022 (phase 2). Geofizyka Toruń S.A. based in Poland carried out the data processing and Geoscience Australia with the help of an external contractor undertook the quality control of the data processing. The seismic data release package contains reprocessed seismic data acquired between 1974 and 2008. In total, the package contains approximately 3,806.9 km of industry 2D reflection seismic data. The seismic surveys include the Beal Hill, 1974; Pilan Hill, 1976; Koomarinna, 1980; Christmas Creek, 1982; Hogarth, 1984; Morphett, 1984; Colson 2D, 1985; Etingimbra, 1985; Fletcher, 1986; Anacoora, 1987; Mitchell, 1987; Bejah, 1987; Simpson Desert, 1979, 1984, 1986, 1987; Forrest, 1988; Eringa Trough, 1994; Amadeus-Pedirka, 2008 and covers areas within the Amadeus Basin, Simpson Basin, Pedirka Basin, Warburton Basin and Cooper Basin in South Australia and Northern Territory. The objective of the seismic reprocessing was to produce a processed 2D land seismic reflection dataset using the latest processing techniques to improve resolution and data quality over legacy processing. In particular, the purpose of the reprocessing was to image the structure and stratigraphic architecture of the Neoproterozoic to Late Palaeozoic Amadeus Basin, Triassic Simpson Basin, Cambrian–Devonian Warburton Basin, Permian–Triassic Pedirka Basin and Cooper Basin. All vintages were processed to DMO stack, Pre-stack Time Migration and Post-Stack Time Migration. <b>Data is available on request from clientservices@ga.gov.au - Quote eCat# 146309</b>