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Journal of Australian Energy Producers
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Non peer reviewed)

Geological overview of the 2011 offshore acreage release for petroleum exploration

Thomas Bernecker
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Geoscience Australia

The APPEA Journal 51(1) 7-44 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ10002
Published: 2011

Abstract

The Australian Government formally releases new offshore exploration areas at the annual APPEA conference. In 2011, 29 areas in eight offshore basins are being released for work program bidding. Closing dates for bid submissions are either six or 12 months after the release date (i.e. 13 October 2011 and 12 April 2012)–this depends on the exploration status in these areas and on data availability. The 2011 Release is the largest since the year 2000 with all 29 areas located in Commonwealth waters offshore NT, WA, Victoria and Tasmania, covering about 200,000 km2. The producing hydrocarbon provinces of the Carnarvon, Otway and Gippsland basins are represented by gazettal blocks that are located close to existing infrastructure and are supported by extensive open file data-sets. Other areas that are close to known oil and gas discoveries lie in the Caswell Sub-basin (eastern Browse Basin) and on the Ashmore Platform (northwestern Bonaparte Basin). A particular aspect of the 2011 release is provided by 13 areas in under-explored regions offshore NT and WA–all of which range from 100–280 graticular blocks in size. These areas, located in the Money Shoal, outer Browse, Roebuck, northeastern Carnarvon, Southern Carnarvon and North Perth basins, offer new opportunities for data-acquisition and regional exploration. The release of three large areas in the Southern Carnarvon and North Perth basins is supported by new data acquired and interpreted by Geoscience Australia as part of the Offshore Energy Security Program, which selected results are being presented at this year’s conference.

Thomas Bernecker is a sedimentary/petroleum geologist who holds an MSc from the University of Aachen, Germany and a PhD from Melbourne’s La Trobe University. After teaching undergraduate courses at the University of Melbourne, he spent ten years with the Victorian Department of Primary Industries focusing on the petroleum geology and hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Gippsland and Otway basins. Thomas joined Geoscience Australia in 2007 where he now manages the Offshore Petroleum Acreage Release and Promotion project. Member: PESA, SEPM, IAS, and GSA.

Tom.Bernecker@ga.gov.au