Geoscience Visual Presentation G02: Source rocks of the Birrindudu Basin: perspectives from a new sampling program

Grace A. Butcher

doi:10.1071/EP23422

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Geoscience Visual Presentation G02: Source rocks of the Birrindudu Basin: perspectives from a new sampling program

Grace A. Butcher ^A ^*

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Geoscience Australia, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

Grace A. Butcher is a geologist at Geoscience Australia working in the Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division. She graduated with a BSc (Hons) in 2010 from the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds. Grace is working on northern Australian basins as part of the Exploring for the Future Program.

^* Correspondence to: grace.butcher@ga.gov.au

Australian Energy Producers Journal 64 https://doi.org/10.1071/EP23422

Published: 7 June 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of Australian Energy Producers. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY).

Abstract

Geoscience Visual Presentation G02

The Paleo- to Mesoproterozoic Birrindudu Basin is an underexplored frontier basin straddling the Northern Territory and Western Australia, and is a region of focus for the second phase of Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program (2020–2024). Hydrocarbon exploration in the Birrindudu Basin has been limited and a thorough assessment of the basin’s petroleum potential is lacking due to the absence of data in the region. To bridge this data gap, a comprehensive analytical program including organic petrology, programmed pyrolysis and oil fluid inclusion analysis was undertaken on cores from six drill holes to improve the understanding of the basin’s source rock potential and assess petroleum migration. Organic petrological analyses reveal that the primary maceral identified in the cores is alginite mainly originating from filamentous cyanobacteria, while bitumen is the most common unstructured secondary organic matter. New reflectance data based on alginite and bitumen reflectance indicate the sampled sections have reached a thermal maturity suitable for hydrocarbon generation. Oil inclusion analyses provide evidence for oil generation and migration, and hence elements of a petroleum system are present in the basin.

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Keywords: Birrindudu Basin, Exploring for the Future, oil inclusions, oil migration, organic petrology, petroleum potential, Proterozoic, source rocks, thermal maturity.

Biographies

Grace A. Butcher is a geologist at Geoscience Australia working in the Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division. She graduated with a BSc (Hons) in 2010 from the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds. Grace is working on northern Australian basins as part of the Exploring for the Future Program.