Exploring for the Future geomechanics: Breaking down barriers to exploration  

Authors / CoAuthors

Bailey, A. | Jarrett, A. | Wang, L. | Dewhurst, D. | Esteban, L. | Kager, S. | Monmusson, L. | Carr, L. | Henson, P.

Abstract

Exploring for the Future (EFTF) is an Australian Government initiative focused on gathering new data and information about potential mineral, energy and groundwater resources across northern Australia. This area is generally under-explored and offers enormous potential for industry development, as it is advantageously located close to major global markets, infrastructure and hosts many prospective regions. In June 2020, the Hon Keith Pitt MP, Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia, announced a four year extension to this program with an expansion in scope to cover the whole of Australia. The energy component of EFTF aims to improve our understanding of the petroleum potential of frontier Australian basins. Building an understanding of geomechanical rock properties is key to understanding both conventional and unconventional petroleum systems as well as carbon storage and sedimentary geothermal systems. Under EFTF, Geoscience Australia has undertaken geomechanical work including stress modelling, shale brittleness studies, and the acquisition of new rock property data through extensive testing on samples from the Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic South Nicholson region of Queensland and the Northern Territory and the Paleozoic Kidson Sub-basin of Western Australia. These analyses are summarised herein. Providing baseline geomechanical data in frontier basins is essential as legacy data coverage can often be inadequate for making investment decisions, particularly where unconventional plays are a primary exploration target. As EFTF increases in scope, Geoscience Australia anticipates expanding these studies to encompass further underexplored regions throughout Australia, lowering the barrier to entry and encouraging greenfield exploration. <b>Citation:</b> Bailey Adam H. E., Jarrett Amber J. M., Wang Liuqi, Dewhurst David N., Esteban Lionel, Kager Shane, Monmusson Ludwig, Carr Lidena K., Henson Paul A. (2021) Exploring for the Future geomechanics: breaking down barriers to exploration. <i>The APPEA Journal </i><b>61</b>, 579-587. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ20039

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document

eCat Id

145123

Contact for the resource

Keywords

theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf

• EARTH SCIENCES

( Project )

• Exploring for the Future - EFTF

• Canning Basin

• Kidson Sub-basin

• Isa Superbasin

• South Nicholson region

• geomechanics

• rock stength

• stiffness

• velocity

• brittleness

• mineralogy

• porosity

• permeability

• seal capacity

• Young's modulus

• Poisson's rtion

• present-day stress

• in situ stress

• stress regimes

• Barnicarndy 1

• Published_External

Publication Date

2023-10-19T22:44:24

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Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem    

Classification - unclassified

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence    

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Use - license

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completed

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APPEA Extended Abstract

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asNeeded

Topic Category

geoscientificInformation

Series Information

The APPEA Journal 2021, Vol 61 579–587

Lineage

Extended Abstract written to be published in APPEA Journal

Parent Information

Extents

[-44.00, -9.00, 112.00, 154.00]

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Spatial Resolution

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Link to Journal  

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