TRENDS AND OUTLOOK FOR EXPLORATION IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Abstract

Petroleum exploration activity in Western Australia over the past decade has been on the increase, boosted by the positive results of many new discoveries, mainly on the North West Shelf but also in frontier areas. Significant discoveries in 1999–2000 resulted from new exploration concepts including deep plays in the Barrow/Dampier Sub-basins, heavy oil plays in the Carnarvon Basin, a deep-water gas play west of Gorgon, large gas/condensate plays in the Browse Basin, and a new gas play in the southern Bonaparte Basin. Discovery itself is a great incentive to the industry to further exploration; however, concerns over oil price, the Australian dollar, markets, policies and perceived prospectivity impact on exploration spending. The short-term outlook for WA is good as a result of existing work commitments including an average of 50 exploration wells to be drilled each year for the next three years. Onshore, where exploration has been subdued, there are signs of increased activity. The Western Australian government is playing a key role in promoting the State through gazettals, promotional activities— conferences and publications, acquiring precompetitive data and making petroleum data more accessible. The government funded Petroleum Exploration Initiatives program is continuing and efforts are being made to facilitate exploration. Sustained high oil prices, improvements in technology and efforts to expedite access to land are just some of the factors which will assist companies in their endeavours. In the longer term, continued growth in Western Australia’s petroleum industry is projected.