<div><strong>Output Type: </strong>Exploring for the Future Extended Abstract</div><div><br></div><div><strong>Short Abstract:</strong> GeoInsight (https://geoinsight.ga.gov.au) is a new digital geological information platform for non-geoscientists, developed through an 18-month pilot project as part of Geoscience Australia’s <em>Exploring for the Future</em> Program (2016-2024). The aim of this pilot was to develop a new approach to digitally communicating geological information to non-geoscience professionals on a region-by-region basis. GeoInsight was developed using a human-centred design approach through which users expressed a need for a simple and fast, plain-language experience which provided basic information and pathways for further research. GeoInsight’s vision is for an accessible experience that curates information and data from across the Geoscience Australia ecosystem, helping users make decisions and refine their research approach, quickly, and confidently. GeoInsight has successfully brought together information from over 20 sources about energy, minerals, and groundwater on a region-by-region basis drawing on information from across Geoscience Australia and external partner organisations. The platform and data package developed during the pilot form the foundations for further refinement and development based on user needs.</div><div><br></div><div><strong>Citation: </strong>Waltenberg, K., Wainman, C.C., Hawkins, S.G., Oborski, E.M., Sen, A., Knepprath, N.E., Holzschuh, J., Sunketa, A., Farmakis, B., Edmonson, S., Czarnota, U., Sedgmen, A. & Seedhouse, M., 2024. GeoInsight: a new digital platform providing regional insights&nbsp;into geoscience data for non-geoscientists. In: Czarnota, K. (ed.) Exploring for the Future: Extended Abstracts, Geoscience Australia, Canberra, https://doi.org/10.26186/149641</div>

This Record forms part of a study under the Exploring For The Future (EFTF) program (2020-2024). The Residual Oil Zone Project was designed to understand and identify residual oil zones in Australia, with the aim of developing this potential hydrocarbon and CO2 geological storage resource through CO2–Enhanced Oil Recovery. The work presented here is a collaborative study between Geoscience Australia and GeoGem Consultants. Residual Oil Zones (ROZ) represent a new and potentially viable oil resource for Australia, while at the same time providing a means to use and store carbon dioxide (CO2) through the application of CO2 enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR). These naturally water-flooded and water-saturated reservoirs, which contain a moderate amount of residual oil, can be associated with conventional fields (brownfields) or occur with no associated main pay zone (greenfields). Both types of ROZ are currently produced commercially through CO2-EOR in the USA, and are of growing interest internationally, but have not yet been explored in Australia. CO2-EOR has been in widespread practice in the USA since the oil shocks of the 1970’s. While tertiary CO2 injection usually targets oil remaining in fields that have been subject to water-flooding, there has been a parallel adoption of practices to recover vast amounts of paleo-oil that existed when many of these reservoirs were much fuller, before relatively recent (in geologic time) events caused structural and seal changes, resulting in natural water-flooding and/or migration of much of the oil out of the reservoir. The Permian Basin in Texas contains many examples where such Residual Oil Zones (ROZ’s) were found beneath conventional oil reservoirs. These ROZ are unproductive to conventional water flood operations but offer the possibility of an extra 9-15% recovery (of the ROZ OIP at discovery). This work reviews the lessons or insights that can be gained from the USA regarding ROZ field developments.

<div>The “Australia’s Future Energy Resources” (AFER) project, funded under the Government’s “Exploring for the Future” (EFTF) program has been completed. The project’s four modules have evaluated a mixture of energy resource commodities, including natural gas, hydrogen, subsurface storage opportunities for carbon dioxide and hydrogen. They are complimented by several targeted basin inventories which outline the current geological knowledge of energy resources in underexplored, data-poor regions. Several publicly available data sets have been generated and published under the AFER project, including 3,750&nbsp;line-km of reprocessed 2D seismic data, acquired in the Pedirka and western Eromanga basins, of which key lines have been interpreted and integrated with geological and petrophysical well log data. Relative prospectivity maps have been produced for five energy resource commodities from 14&nbsp;play intervals to show the qualitative variability in prospectivity of these resources, including quantitative resource assessments where warranted. Results from the AFER project have helped to identify and geologically characterise the required energy resource commodities to accelerate Australia’s path to net zero emissions.</div> Presented at the Australian Energy Producers (AEP) Conference & Exhibition (https://energyproducersconference.au/conference/)

Australia is well-positioned to remain a global energy supplier and be a leader in driving efforts to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Australia has the potential to produce a range of low emissions energy commodities such as geothermal energy, natural and manufactured hydrogen, and natural gas linked with carbon capture and storage. Our ample solar and wind energy resources also support the deployment of renewable energy technologies across the country. Our geological systems supply the raw materials — such as several of the critical minerals and strategic materials — that are needed to develop the infrastructure and manufacture the batteries and technologies that will support the energy transition. New and emerging opportunities have been identified for energy storage for energy produced from renewable sources, such as through manufacturing hydrogen, hydrogen storage in underground salt caverns, and compressed air energy storage. Australia is recognised for having a large potential to geologically store carbon dioxide. Carbon capture and storage technology can support industries that find it difficult to abate their emissions, including efforts to remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere through use of direct air capture technology. Understanding the prospectivity for these resources and the current and emerging energy storage technologies will help to accelerate Australia's journey to a net-zero economy. As Australia’s national public sector geoscience organisation, Geoscience Australia continues to undertake national and regional research and data acquisition, to provide precompetitive data that underpins decision-making by governments and industry and attracts future investment.

<div>GeoInsight’s vision is to be an accessible experience that curates information and data from across the Geoscience Australia ecosystem, helping users make decisions and refine their research approach, quickly and confidently.</div><div><br></div><div>The purpose of the GeoInsight website is to communicate geological information to non-geoscience professionals. The website presents regional geological insights about minerals, energy and groundwater, as well as contextual geographic, societal and infrastructure information. The website delivers this information in a simple and fast, plain-language interactive experience which provides basic information and additional pathways for further research.</div><div><br></div><div>The GeoInsight began as a 18-month pilot project in the latter part of Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future Program (2016–2024) with a working title of GeoWRAPA. Technical details about the build and content are available as a series of Geoscience Australia Records (refer to associated documents list). Future development is envisaged to take two forms: 1) small but regular improvements to maintain the product (business as usual) and major development milestone goals driven by project-based funding and resources.</div>