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Geoscience Poster G8: Geomechanical rock properties of the Officer Basin

Adam H. E. Bailey A *
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A Geoscience Australia, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

* Correspondence to: adam.bailey@ga.gov.au

The APPEA Journal 62 - https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ21404
Published: 3 June 2022

Abstract

Poster G8

The Officer Basin spanning South Australia and Western Australia is the focus of a regional stratigraphic study being undertaken as part of the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program, an Australian Government initiative dedicated to increasing investment in resource exploration in Australia. Despite numerous demonstrated oil and gas shows, the Officer Basin remains a frontier basin for energy exploration with significant uncertainties due to data availability. Under the EFTF Officer–Musgrave Project, Geoscience Australia acquired new geomechanical rock property data from forty core samples in five legacy stratigraphic and petroleum exploration wells that intersected Paleozoic and Neoproterozoic aged intervals. These samples were subjected to unconfined compressive rock strength tests, Brazilian tensile strength tests and laboratory ultrasonic measurements. Petrophysical properties were also characterised via X-ray computerised tomography scanning, grain density and porosity-permeability analysis. Accurate characterisation of static geomechanical rock properties through laboratory testing is essential. In the modern exploration environment, these datasets are a precompetitive resource that can simplify investment decisions in prospective frontier regions such as the Officer Basin.

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Keywords: Exploring for the Future, geomechanics, laboratory testing, Neoproterozoic Basins, Officer Basin, Officer-Musgrave Project, Paleozoic Basins, petrophysics, Poisson’s ratio, rock properties, static to dynamic, unconfined compressive strength, unconventional hydrocarbons, Young’s modulus.

Adam H. E. Bailey is a Petroleum Geoscientist at Geoscience Australia, with expertise in petroleum geomechanics, structural geology and basin analysis. He graduated with a BSc (Hons) in 2012 and a PhD in 2016 from the Australian School of Petroleum at the University of Adelaide. Adam is currently part of the Onshore Energy Systems team at Geoscience Australia, where he is currently working on the flagship Exploring for the Future program in Northern Australia.