Addressing exploration uncertainties in the southern Bonaparte Basin: enhanced stratigraphic control and post drill analysis for upper Permian plays
R. Owens A * , A. Kelman A , K. Khider A , J. Iwanec A and T. Bernecker AA Geoscience Australia, GPO Box 378, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
The APPEA Journal 62 S474-S479 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21122
Accepted: 15 March 2022 Published: 13 May 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of APPEA. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY).
Abstract
The upper Permian to lower Triassic sedimentary succession in the southern Bonaparte Basin represents an extensive marginal marine depositional system that hosts several gas accumulations, including the Blacktip gas field that has been in production since 2009. Development of additional identified gas resources has been hampered by reservoir heterogeneity, as highlighted by preliminary results from a post drill analysis of wells in the study area that identify reservoir effectiveness as a key exploration risk. The sedimentary succession that extends across the Permian–Triassic stratigraphic boundary was deposited during a prolonged marine transgression and shows a transition in lithofacies from the carbonate-dominated Dombey Formation to the siliciclastic-dominated Tern and Penguin formations. Recent improvements in chronostratigraphic calibration of Australian biostratigraphic schemes, spanning the late Permian and early Triassic, inform our review of available palynological data, and re-interpretation and infill sampling of well data. The results provide a better-resolved, consistent and up-to-date stratigraphic scheme, allowing an improved understanding of the timing, duration and distribution of depositional environments of the upper Permian to lower Triassic sediments across the Petrel Sub-basin and Londonderry High.
Keywords: biostratigraphy, Bonaparte Basin, North West Shelf, Permian–Triassic boundary, Petrel Sub-basin, post drill analysis, reservoir, stratigraphy.
Ryan Owens is a Geoscientist in Geoscience Australia’s Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division, Advice, Investment Attraction and Analysis Branch. He graduated from Australian National University in 2007 with a BSc in Geology (Hons). Subsequently he worked in mineral exploration before undertaking a PhD in Paleoceanography at the Research School of Earth Sciences, ANU. Since joining Geoscience Australia through the graduate program in 2014, Ryan has contributed to a number of projects including the northern Houtman Sub-basin prospectivity study, the Geological and Bioregional Assessments of the Beetaloo and Cooper Basins and the annual Acreage Release. Member: PESA, GSA. |
Andrew Kelman is a Biostratigrapher in Geoscience Australia’s Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division, Advice, Investment Attraction and Analysis Branch. He completed a BSc at ANU in 1993, and an honours degree in Paleontology and Ecostratigraphy at Macquarie University, NSW, in 2005. He joined Geoscience Australia as a Palaeontology Technician in 1994, moving to his present position with the Timescales project in 2006. Andrew’s work is now focused compiling biostratigraphic charts covering the Australian offshore and onshore basins and biostratigraphic contributions to the acreage release process. |
Dr Kamal Khider is a Senior Geoscientist in Geoscience Australia’s Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division, Basin Systems Branch. He has a BSc, MSc and PhD (Stratigraphy and Sedimentology) and a PhD in Applied Geochemistry. Kamal has long-standing academic and consultative experience in geosciences, working in many academic and industrial geological organisations in Australia, the Middle East and North Africa. He worked on the regional geological appraisal of the Eocene–Oligocene–Miocene boundaries IGCP 174, regional geochemical assessment of the Cobar-Girilambone region in NSW and the Queensland Carbon Dioxide Geological Storage Atlas. Since 2007, he has worked on several of Geoscience Australia’s petroleum and carbon capture and storage projects. Kamal is a member of AAPG, GSA and SEPM. |
Jeremy Iwanec is a Geoscientist with over 15 years of petroleum industry experience identifying, maturing and delivering exploration, appraisal and development opportunities. Jeremy completed a BSc (Honours) in Applied Geology from the University of New South Wales in 2002, before joining Oil Search Limited in 2003. At Oil Search, he worked on various projects across onshore and offshore Papua New Guinea, Yemen and Kurdistan, undertaking play-based exploration studies, 2D and 3D seismic interpretation, structural and stratigraphic modelling, well planning and delivery, and resource assessments. In 2021, Jeremy joined Geoscience Australia as an Energy Resource Geoscientist where he is currently conducting geological and geophysical studies to assess Australia’s conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources and carbon capture and storage potential. |
Thomas (Tom) Bernecker is a Sedimentologist/Petroleum Geologist who holds an MSc from the University of Aachen (RWTH), Germany and a PhD from Melbourne’s La Trobe University. Tom’s early work focused on the development of models for siliciclastic and carbonate depositional systems in NW Europe and in Australia. After a lectureship at the University of Melbourne, Tom joined the Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Energy where his work was focused on the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Gippsland and Otway Basins. Tom joined Geoscience Australia as the Team Leader for the onshore hydrocarbon project in 2007 and from 2009 onwards has managed the offshore acreage release program, including the promotion of investment opportunities in Australia’s oil and gas sector. Tom is currently the Director of the Energy Resources Advice and Promotion section in GA’s Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division. He is a member of PESA, SEPM and SEAPEX. |
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