Concurrent 17. Presentation for: Petroleum supersystems in the greater McArthur Basin, Northern Territory, Australia: prospectivity of the world’s oldest stacked systems with emphasis on the McArthur Supersystem
Amber J. M. Jarrett A *A Northern Territory Geological Survey, GPO Box 4550, Darwin, NT 0800, Australia.
The APPEA Journal 62 - https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21358
Published: 3 June 2022
Abstract
Presented on Wednesday 18 May: Session 17
This study assesses the prospectivity of the world’s oldest known stacked petroleum systems from the Proterozoic greater McArthur Basin (Northern Territory, Australia), which has immense potential to host both conventional natural gas and oil, in addition to shale-gas accumulations. The Mesoproterozoic succession of the Beetaloo Sub-basin and surrounding region hosts the Territory’s premier shale-gas play and is at an advanced stage of exploration for shale hydrocarbon plays. However, there is also potential for natural gas in older sedimentary packages, with flows and shows reported in underlying Paleoproterozoic successions. At the continent-scale, four regional petroleum supersystems are identified and described in order to provide a platform for consistent nomenclature at the sedimentary package and group level; in ascending stratigraphic order; these are the Paleoproterozoic Redbank and McArthur supersystems, the Paleoproterozoic–Mesoproterozoic Lawn Supersystem, and the Mesoproterozoic Beetaloo Supersystem. The Redbank and Lawn supersystems are newly named and defined, and the Beetaloo Supersystem is renamed from the former Urapungan Supersystem. Eight possible conventional natural gas plays and six shale-gas plays are documented within the McArthur Supersystem, which incorporates Glyde Package successions of the McArthur Basin and the Birrindudu Basin. Petroleum play concepts are also described from this supersystem to assist with assessing the potential for gas resources. A better understanding of the petroleum systems of the greater McArthur Basin is critical to the targeting of areas for geoscience data acquisition in order to facilitate the reduction of exploration search space; and it enables a more rigorous assessment of the potential for conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources at local (play) and regional scales.
To access the presentation click the link on the right. To read the full paper click here
Keywords: Barney Creek Formation, conventional, geochemistry, Glyde Package, greater McArthur Basin, isotopes, kinetics, natural gas, petroleum plays, petroleum supersystems, pyrolysis, shale gas, unconventional.
Dr Amber Jarrett is a Project Geologist working in the Basin Geoscience team at Northern Territory Geological Survey with over 10 years of experience working in NT basins. Amber graduated with a BSc (Hons), with a major in geology and biology, in 2008 and a PhD in 2014 both from the Australian National University. Prior to the NTGS, Amber worked for 7 years at Geoscience Australia in the Onshore Energy Systems team investigating the geochemistry and petroleum potential of northern Australian basins. Amber is the Chair of the Geological Society of Australia (GSA) NT Division, and a member of the GSA National Governing Council as well as a member of PESA. |
