Petroleum source rocks of Western Australia
K. Ameed R. Ghori
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
Geological Survey of Western Australia, Mineral House, 100 Plain Street, East Perth, WA 6004, Australia. Email: Ameed.GHORI@dmirs.wa.gov.au; ameed.ghori@hotmail.com
The APPEA Journal 58(1) 282-310 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ17051
Submitted: 4 December 2017 Accepted: 28 January 2018 Published: 28 May 2018
Abstract
Petroleum geochemical analysis of samples from the Canning, Carnarvon, Officer and Perth basins identified several formations with source potential, the:
• Triassic Locker Shale and Jurassic Dingo Claystone of the Northern Carnarvon Basin;
• Permian Irwin River Coal Measures and Carynginia Formation, Triassic Kockatea Shale and Jurassic Cattamarra Coal Measures of the Perth Basin;
• Ordovician Goldwyer and Bongabinni formations, Devonian Gogo Formation and Lower Carboniferous Laurel Formation of the Canning Basin;
• Devonian Gneudna Formation of the Gascoyne Platform and the Lower Permian Wooramel and Byro groups of the Merlinleigh Sub-basin of the Southern Carnarvon Basin; and
• Neoproterozoic Brown, Hussar, Kanpa and Steptoe formations of the Officer Basin.
Burial history and geothermal basin modelling was undertaken using input parameters from geochemical analyses of rock samples, produced oil, organic petrology, apatite fission track analysis (AFTA), heat flows, subsurface temperatures and other exploration data compiled by the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA). Of these basins, the Canning, Carnarvon, and Perth basins are currently producing oil and gas, whereas the Southern Carnarvon and Officer basins have no commercial petroleum discovery yet, but they do have source, reservoir, seal and petroleum shows indicating the presence of petroleum systems.
The Carnarvon Basin contains the richest identified petroleum source rocks, followed by the Perth and Canning basins. Production in the Carnarvon Basin is predominantly gas and oil, the Perth Basin is gas-condensate and the Canning Basin is oil dominated, demonstrating the variations in source rock type and maturity across the state.
GSWA is continuously adding new data to assess petroleum systems and prospectivity of these and other basins in Western Australia.
Keywords: Canning Basin, Carnarvon Basin, Officer Basin, Perth Basin, petroleum source rock, petroleum systems modelling, Western Australia.
Ameed Ghori is an experienced petroleum geologist/geochemist. Specializing in managing team based integrated petroleum and geothermal system studies. He has up-to-date knowledge developed through various short-courses, conference-presentations on Australian, Ugandan, Libyan, and Pakistani basins that are published in national and international journals. Plus various company confidential reports. He joined Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) in 1994. Before joining GSWA, he worked as specialist/consultant geologist in Uganda at the Petroleum Exploration and Production Department; in Australia at Lasmo Oil, SAGASCO Resources, Discovery Petroleum, and Petrochemex; in Libya at Arabian Gulf Oil Company; and in Pakistan at Oil and Gas Development Corporation. Ameed published and presented numerous papers on petroleum geochemistry and systems of Australian, Ugandan, Libyan, and Pakistani basins in national and international journals and conferences. He completed Master Degree in petroleum geology first in Pakistan (1968) then in Australia (1994). He is a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologist–Energy Mineral Division (AAPG–EMD), Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (PESA), Formation Evaluation Society of Australia (FESAus), and Pakistani Society of Petroleum Geoscientists (PAPG). |
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