The oil and gas exploration and development industry is a significant Australian industry. In 2000 the value of oil and gas produced was $10.5 billion. This meant that Australia remained more than self sufficient in petroleum, contributing to economic activity and avoiding the balance of payment pressure that importing that amount of petroleum would represent. There is thus an incentive to maintain a healthy petroleum exploration and production industry. R&D for the upstream petroleum industry however, needs to be targeted to the requirements of the differing facets of the industry under the diverse conditions in which the industry operates or could operate. These conditions include changes in oil prices and perceptions of prospectivity, uncertain access to gas markets and the effects of international agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Different petroleum companies also have differing exploration and production portfolios and different needs. Petroleum service industry companies try to meet industry?s needs. Governments have their own goals in promoting and regulating the industry and derive considerable revenues for economic rent applied to reserves held by the Crown. In the above context, a range of scenarios was considered in a planning process prioritising future needs for petroleum R&D in Australia. In this context two groups of senior petroleum industry, research and government representatives carried out scenario planning workshops in 1998 and 1999 to define scenarios and associated R&D priorities to assist in planning and identifying opportunities for petroleum R&D. The results of this study highlight core areas of R&D that are required under most of the scenarios. These are considered highest priority and high priority areas. Given the long time frame (in the order of 10 years) needed to develop and maintain R&D capability, this highlights for government, academia and industry the sustained effort needed for development and maintenance of capability particularly in these core areas of R&D. In 1998 and 1999 when the workshops that formed the basis of this study were undertaken, Australia was arguably in the `low oil and gas price scenario?. This scenario puts an onus on government to support regional studies to promote exploration and most priority petroleum R&D. Under this scenario support from industry is substantially aimed at reducing cost. Although oil prices have increased, coincident increases in stock market pressures for competitive profits from the industry has arguably left the industry in 2001 still in the low oil and gas price scenario. Thus there remains a strong need to maintain a local petroleum R&D capability to meet Australia?s needs.

Product no longer exists, please refer to GeoCat #30413 for the data

Product no longer exists, please refer to GeoCat #30413 for the data

This map is part of the series that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5 km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at which published topographic maps cover the entire continent. Each standard map covers an area of 1.5 degrees longitude by 1 degree latitude or about 150 kilometres from east to west and 110 kilometres from north to south. There are about 50 special maps in the series and these maps cover a non-standard area. Typically, where a map produced on standard sheet lines is largely ocean it is combined with its landward neighbour. These maps contain natural and constructed features including road and rail infrastructure, vegetation, hydrography, contours (interval 50m), localities and some administrative boundaries. The topographic map and data index shows coverage of the sheets. Product Specifications Coverage: The series covers the whole of Australia with 513 maps. Currency: Ranges from 1995 to 2009. 95% of maps have a reliability date of 1994 or later. Coordinates: Geographical and either AMG or MGA (post-1993) Datum: AGD66, GDA94, AHD. Projection: Universal Traverse Mercator (UTM) Medium: Paper, flat and folded copies.

<p>Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in ore and mudstone within the McArthur River ore deposit show compound distributions similar to those of hydrothermally-generated petroleum in the Guaymas Basin and significantly different from those found in conventional oil (Chen et al., submitted). PAH abundances and isomer distribution also reflect a temperature gradient between the source of mineralising fluids and the sediments fringing the ore system during ore formation. Along with other geochemical, geological and mineralogical lines of evidence, these data provide strong evidence that the ore formed in a ?diagenetic? environment under marine conditions. Given that the McArthur River orebody is an exquisitely preserved example of a sediment-hosted base metal deposit, these results may be widely applicable. Organic geochemistry can make significant contributions to understanding processes of ore deposition. The distribution of PAHs suggests that they were generated at temperatures between 250-400?C (Simoneit, pers. comm 2001), in contrast to previous estimates of 150-250?C. This has new and significant implications for ore formation and exploration models. The higher temperature estimates for ore forming brines require a deeper metal source within the basin, and fluid volumes may have been lower because metal carrying capacity increases with temperature. Importantly, at higher temperatures hydrogen sulfide can be transported with the metal ions, indicating that evaporites are not required as a source of sulfur. The McArthur deposit is also a rich repository of paleobiological information, allowing studies of the microbiology of ore formation and the paleobiology of an ancient hydrothermal system (Logan et al., 2001). <p>Chen J., Walter M.R., Logan G.A., Hinman M.C. and Summons R.E. (submitted) Geology <p>Logan G.A., Hinman M.C., Walter M.R. and Summons R.E. (2001) Geochim.Cosmochim. Acta 65, 2317-2336.

Existing age constraints for geological events in the Tanami Block come predominantly from U-Pb geochronology of i) detrital zircons in sediments, and ii) magmatic zircons in granitoids. These constraints have been used together with observed and inferred geological relationships to help constrain timing of stratigraphy, magmatism, deformation, metamorphism and Aumineralisation (e.g. Vandenburg et al., 2001). Ongoing GA/NTGS zircon geochronology is continuing to refine our understanding of the stratigraphy and magmatic history of the Tanami, with attendant implications for tectonic evolution. In this regard it is noteworthy that detrital zircon ages of ~1815 Ma from the Killi Killi formation require either (or both) a revision of existing stratigraphy, or that the so-called Tanami Orogenic Event significantly post-dates ~1815 Ma, in contrast to previous estimates of ~1845 - 1830 Ma. However, detrital and magmatic zircons can provide no direct constraints on timing of deformation, metamorphism and Au-mineralisation, and consequently our current understanding of these processes in the Tanami region is relatively poor, despite being critical to predictive exploration models.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics March quarter data indicate further deterioration in Australian mineral exploration keeping current expenditure levels well below recent levels. Despite this, indicators including increased mineral company floats in 2002 on the back of new discoveries, improved gold prices, increased activity especially by juniors, and prospects for improved metal prices in 2003-2004, present the most positive outlook for mineral exploration since 1997. However, a period of sustained increases in metal prices is required for a significant rise in exploration levels. Exploration is focussed in the Yilgarn Craton, the Tanami Province, the Gawler Craton, the Musgrave Province, and the Murray Basin. The Ashburton province is an emerging gold province and much of the Northern Territory is under tenement for diamonds. Discoveries continue to be made but increased greenfields exploration, especially in areas under cover, is needed to exploit Australia's potential. New government geoscience programs, especially regional pre-competitive geophysical surveys, are playing an important role in helping to unlock that potential. Originally published in The AusIMM Bulletin No. 5 September/October 2002, pp 36-42.

Product no longer exists, please refer to GeoCat #30413 for the data

This map is part of the series that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5 km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at which published topographic maps cover the entire continent. Each standard map covers an area of 1.5 degrees longitude by 1 degree latitude or about 150 kilometres from east to west and 110 kilometres from north to south. There are about 50 special maps in the series and these maps cover a non-standard area. Typically, where a map produced on standard sheet lines is largely ocean it is combined with its landward neighbour. These maps contain natural and constructed features including road and rail infrastructure, vegetation, hydrography, contours (interval 50m), localities and some administrative boundaries. The topographic map and data index shows coverage of the sheets. Product Specifications Coverage: The series covers the whole of Australia with 513 maps. Currency: Ranges from 1995 to 2009. 95% of maps have a reliability date of 1994 or later. Coordinates: Geographical and either AMG or MGA (post-1993) Datum: AGD66, GDA94, AHD. Projection: Universal Traverse Mercator (UTM) Medium: Paper, flat and folded copies.

This map is part of the series that covers the whole of Australia at a scale of 1:250 000 (1cm on a map represents 2.5 km on the ground) and comprises 513 maps. This is the largest scale at which published topographic maps cover the entire continent. Each standard map covers an area of 1.5 degrees longitude by 1 degree latitude or about 150 kilometres from east to west and 110 kilometres from north to south. There are about 50 special maps in the series and these maps cover a non-standard area. Typically, where a map produced on standard sheet lines is largely ocean it is combined with its landward neighbour. These maps contain natural and constructed features including road and rail infrastructure, vegetation, hydrography, contours (interval 50m), localities and some administrative boundaries. The topographic map and data index shows coverage of the sheets. Product Specifications Coverage: The series covers the whole of Australia with 513 maps. Currency: Ranges from 1995 to 2009. 95% of maps have a reliability date of 1994 or later. Coordinates: Geographical and either AMG or MGA (post-1993) Datum: AGD66, GDA94, AHD. Projection: Universal Traverse Mercator (UTM) Medium: Paper, flat and folded copies.