Australian exploration review 2017
Matthew Quinn A C and Frances Hulbert BA IHS Markit, 40 St Georges Terrace, Perth, WA 6000, Australia.
B IHS Markit, Enterprise House, Cirencester Road, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, GL8 8RX, UK.
C Corresponding author. Email: matthew.quinn@ihsmarkit.com
Accepted: 9 April 2018 Published: 28 May 2018
Abstract
Seventy acreage grants were awarded in Australia during 2017, with net acreage increasing in the Canning, Bonaparte and Perth basins. More broadly, the area under licence within Australia has been reducing since 2014 and this trend continued with a reduction of just over 100 000 km2.
Both 2D and 3D seismic acquisition levels decreased within Australia during 2017, on an absolute and on a percentage of worldwide basis.
An uptick in exploratory drilling occurred in 2017 with the highest levels since 2014 being reached. Exploratory drilling levels in Australia also increased, in percentage terms, compared with those globally.
Discovered volumes exhibited a sharp decrease with a total of 22 MMboe recoverable reserves added across 14 fields.
In 2018, exploration activity is expected to increase with key wells planned in the North Carnarvon and Roebuck basins.
Keywords: Bight Basin, Bonaparte Basin, Bowen-Surat Basin, Canning Basin, Dorado 1, Eromanga Basin, Ferrand 1, Gippsland Basin, Hockey/Bianchi, Ironbark 1, McArthur Basin, new field wildcat, North Carnarvon Basin, Otway Basin, permits, Perth Basin, Ranger 1, Roebuck Basin, seismic, upstream, Xanadu 1.
Matt Quinn has over fifteen years’ experience in the resources industry including nine with IHS Markit, working on the Australasia and north-west Europe datasets. He spent three years with Woodside with offshore Mauritania and Greater Enfield development teams and four years on the Western Australian goldfields. Matt has a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree from the University of Adelaide and is a member of SEAPEX and PESA. He currently works with IHS Markit in customer support. |
Frankie Hulbert is Technical Research Manager for the IHS-Markit Australasia Regional GEPS and EDIN Team, heading up the group of researchers and analysts that cover E&P activity over the continent. Frankie has worked for the team since graduating in 2007, covering various roles looking into licencing, drilling, geological and company activity. During her time within the team she has had several papers published for various publications and conference events. Frankie is a member of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (PESA) and the South East Asia Petroleum Exploration Society (SEAPEX). She graduated from Cardiff University in 2007 and holds a bachelor’s degree in geology. |
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) (2018). Mineral and Petroleum Exploration, Australia, Dec 2017, Table 6a. Petroleum exploration, expenditure by onshore and offshore, available at http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/8412.0Dec%202017?OpenDocument [Accessed April 2018].IHS Markit (2018a). Global Exploration & Production Service (GEPS).
IHS Markit (2018b). E&P Database.
IHS Markit (2018c). Companies & Transactions Database.
