New deep crustal seismic data acquisition program for NWQ’s frontier petroleum basins
Sally Edwards A B and Behnam Talebi AA Geological Survey of Queensland, Department of Natural Resources Mines and Energy (Queensland), PO Box 15216, City East, Qld 4002, Australia.
B Corresponding author. Email: sally.edwards@dnrme.qld.gov.au
The APPEA Journal 59(2) 869-873 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ18084
Accepted: 19 March 2019 Published: 17 June 2019
Abstract
The Georgina and South Nicholson basins and the Isa Superbasin of North West Queensland (NWQ), represent frontier basins earmarked for examination of resource potential under the Strategic Resources Exploration Program. Little exploration has occurred for petroleum resources in these basins although a proven petroleum system exists in both the Isa Superbasin and the Georgina Basin with demonstrated flow at sub-commercial rates. To increase knowledge of the petroleum system, define the extent of the South Nicholson Basin and examine basin architecture, Geoscience Australia acquired deep (to 20-s listening time) seismic data across the South Nicholson Basin and northern Isa Superbasin area in 2017. However, this survey focused on broader structural architecture definition across the Proterozoic Isa Superbasin and South Nicholson and McArthur basins. Little is understood of the petroleum system in the southern Isa Superbasin, or even if this structure is part of the Isa Superbasin, where Proterozoic gas is inferred from mineral boreholes and oil stained Cambrian-aged carbonates exist. To increase understanding of this southern region, the Queensland Government acquired a new NWQ SEEBASE® (depth to basement) model in 2018, and will be undertaking a 2D deep seismic survey within the Camooweal region to better understand the structural architecture, sediment thicknesses and seismic characteristic of packages of this southern area. The seismic survey is centred on the Georgina Basin and will tie into the South Nicholson survey – extending knowledge further south across major structures featured in the SEEBASE® model.
Keywords: 2D seismic, Camooweal, frontier basin, gas, Geological Survey of Queensland, Georgina Basin, Geoscience Australia, Isa Superbasin, North West Queensland, petroleum, SEEBASE®, shale.
Sally Edwards has worked within the research community connected to the petroleum industry and government sectors for more than 15 years, with experience in field and technical roles within Australia and New Zealand. She joined the GSQ in 2012, and has worked in various teams including land release/resource evaluation and resource planning before returning to the Basin Studies group at the end of 2017. Sally’s qualifications include a BSc (Hons) in Geological Science from the University of Adelaide and a MSc in Earth Sciences from James Cook University specialising in sequence stratigraphy and sedimentology. Sally is a member of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia, the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Formation Evaluation Society of Queensland (the Queensland branch of the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts). |
Behnam Talebi is a geologist and completed his post-graduate studies in Geothermal Energy Technology at the University of Auckland in 1996. Between 1997 and 2013, he ran a number of geothermal energy projects in Australia and Iran from reconnaissance studies through to field exploration and development programs. Behnam has recently managed completion of SEEBASE studies in North West and Central Queensland. He is currently assisting a regional deep seismic program within the Geological Survey of Queensland to generate new pre-competitive geoscience information for explorers to help identify new hydrocarbon generation potential in North West and Central Queensland. |
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