Getting it right - Finding more oil - Using gas  

Authors / CoAuthors

Bradshaw, M.T.

Abstract

2002 and 2003 may well prove to be pivotal years for petroleum exploration in Australia as we endeavour to meet our twin imperatives of finding more oil and using gas. Long term gas supply contracts have been signed with China and a number of key oil discoveries have been made both on and offshore. Deep water wells will be drilled that have the potential to usher in another phase of major oil discovery akin to bonanza of the 1960s, when the first steps into the offshore resulted in billion barrel discoveries in Bass Strait. By the close of the first successful cycle of exploration in Australia (1960 to 1972) all currently producing basins were identified as petroliferous, the major play types had been established and over 60% of Australia?s current oil reserves found. The key drivers of this phase were the access to new basins opened up by the move to offshore exploration and the stimulus to further exploration provided by discovery success. The same drivers are apparent now. Recent discoveries in the Perth, Carnarvon, Otway and Browse basins provide strong indications that a significant new cycle of exploration success is already underway. In many cases these finds represent the largest fields yet found in the basin or at least the largest in the last thirty years. The usual discovery history trend of declining field sizes over time has been turned on its head - clearly demonstrating that many of Australia?s currently producing basins still have a long way to run and encouraging further exploration efforts. Perhaps of even more importance to Australia?s long term liquids self sufficiency is the current deepwater drilling campaign which is stepping out beyond former geographic limits. The first wells in major Mesozoic depocentres on the outer margin of the North west Shelf and in the Great Australian Bight are being drilled with the potential to establish entirely new petroleum provinces.

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nonGeographicDataset

eCat Id

42236

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Keywords

• External PublicationAbstract

( Theme )

• hydrocarbons

( Theme )

• petroleum exploration

( Theme )

• natural gas

Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)

• Earth Sciences

• Published_Internal

Publication Date

2003-01-01T00:00:00

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Australian Government Security ClassificationSystem    

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence    

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geoscientificInformation

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