HYDROCARBON GENERATION IN THE AMADEUS BASIN, CENTRAL AUSTRALIA

Abstract

The Proterozoic to Devonian Amadeus Basin of central Australia contains two hydrocarbon fields — oil and gas at Mereenie and gas at Palm Valley, both within Ordovician sandstone reservoirs. Significant gas and oil shows have also been recorded from Cambrian sandstones and carbonates in the eastern part of the basin. The hydrocarbon generation histories of documented source rocks, determined by Lopatin modelling, largely explain the distribution of the hydrocarbons. The best oil and gas source rocks occur in the Ordovician Horn Valley Siltstone. Source potential is also developed within the Late Proterozoic sequence, particularly the Gillen Member of the Bitter Springs Formation, and the Cambrian.

Consideration of organic maturity, relative timing of hydrocarbon generation and trap formation, and oil/source typing leads to the conclusion that the Horn Valley Siltstone charged the Mereenie structure with gas and oil. At Palm Valley, only gas and minor condensate occur because the trap was formed too late to receive an oil charge. Differences in organic facies may also, in part, account for the dry gas and lack of substantial liquid hydrocarbons at Palm Valley. In the eastern Amadeus Basin, the Ordovician is largely absent but Proterozoic sources are well placed to provide the gas discovered by Ooraminna 1 and Dingo 1. Any oil charge here would have preceded trap development.