AN INTEGRATED GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL INTERPRETATION OF A PORTION OF THE OFFSHORE SYDNEY BASIN, NEW SOUTH WALES

2003 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 495 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.A. Arditto

The study area is within PEP 11, which is more than 200 km in length, covers an area over 8,200 km2 and lies immediately offshore of Sydney, Australia’s largest gas and petroleum market on the east coast of New South Wales. Permit water depths range from 40 m to 200 m. While the onshore Sydney Basin has received episodic interest in petroleum exploration drilling, no deep exploration wells have been drilled offshore.A reappraisal of available data indicates the presence of suitable oil- and wet gas-prone source rocks of the Late Permian coal measure succession and gas-prone source rocks of the middle to early Permian marine outer shelf mudstone successions within PEP 11. Reservoir quality is an issue within the onshore Permian succession and, while adequate reservoir quality exists in the lower Triassic succession, this interval is inferred to be absent over much of PEP 11. Quartz-rich arenites of the Late Permian basal Sydney Subgroup are inferred to be present in the western part of PEP 11 and these may form suitable reservoirs. Seismic mapping indicates the presence of suitable structures for hydrocarbon accumulation within the Permian succession of PEP 11, but evidence points to significant structuring post-dating peak hydrocarbon generation. Uplift and erosion of the order of 4 km (based on onshore vitrinite reflectance studies and offshore seismic truncation geometries) is inferred to have taken place over the NE portion of the study area within PEP 11. Published burial history modelling indicates hydrocarbon generation from the Late Permian coal measures commenced by or before the mid-Triassic and terminated during a mid-Cretaceous compressional uplift prior to the opening of the Tasman Sea.Structural plays identified in the western and southwestern portion of PEP 11 are well positioned to contain Late Permian clean, quartz-rich, fluvial to nearshore marine reservoir facies of the coal measures. These were sourced from the western Tasman Fold Belt. The reservoir facies are also well positioned to receive hydrocarbons expelled from adjacent coal and carbonaceous mudstone source rock facies, but must rely on early trap integrity or re-migrated hydrocarbons and, being relatively shallow, have a risk of biodegradation. Structural closures along the main offshore uplift appear to have been stripped of the Late Permian coal measure succession and must rely on mid-Permian to Early Permian petroleum systems for hydrocarbon generation and accumulation.

1989 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 450 ◽  
Author(s):  
John F. Marshall ◽  
Chao- Shing Lee ◽  
Douglas C. Ramsay ◽  
Aidan M.G. Moore

The major tectonic and stratigraphic elements of the offshore North Perth Basin have been delineated from regional BMR multichannel seismic reflection lines, together with industry seismic and well data. This analysis reveals that three sub- basins, the Edel, Abrolhos and Houtman Sub- basins, have formed as a result of three distinct episodes of rifting within the offshore North Perth Basin during the Early Permian, Late Permian and Late Jurassic respectively. During this period, rifting has propagated from east to west, and has culminated in the separation of this part of the Australian continent from Greater India.The boundaries between the sub- basins and many structures within individual sub- basins are considered to have been produced by strike- slip or oblique- slip motion. The offshore North Perth Basin is believed to be a product of transtension, possibly since the earliest phase of rifting. This has culminated in separation and seafloor spreading by oblique extension along the Wallaby Fracture Zone to form a transform passive continental margin.This style of rifting and extension has produced relatively thin syn- rift sequences, some of which have been either partly or completely removed by erosion. While the source- rock potential of the syn- rift phase is limited, post- rift marine transgressional phases and coal measures do provide adequate and relatively widespread source rocks for hydrocarbon generation. Differences in the timing of rifting across the basin have resulted in a maturation pattern whereby mature sediments become younger to the west.


1985 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
P. Ties ◽  
R.D. Shaw ◽  
G.C. Geary

The Clarence-Moreton Basin covers an area of some 28 000 km2 in north-eastern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland. The basin is relatively unexplored, with a well density in New South Wales of one per 1600 km2. Since 1980, Endeavour Resources and its co-venturers have pursued an active exploration programme which has resulted in the recognition of significant petroleum potential in the New South Wales portion of the basin.Previous studies indicated that the Upper Triassic to Lower Cretaceous Clarence-Moreton Basin sequence in general, lacked suitable reservoirs and had poor source- rock potential. While exinite rich, oil-prone source rocks were recognised in the Middle Jurassic Walloon Coal Measures, they were considered immature for oil generation. Moreover, during the 1960's the basin acquired a reputation as an area where seismic records were of poor quality.These ideas are now challenged following the results of a new round of exploration which commenced in the New South Wales portion of the basin in 1980. This exploration has involved the acquisition of over 1000 km of multifold seismic data, the reprocessing of some 200 km of existing single fold data, and the drilling of one wildcat well. Over twenty large structural leads have been identified, involving trapping mechanisms ranging from simple drape to antithetic and synthetic fault blocks associated with normal and reverse fault dependent and independent closures.The primary exploration targets in the Clarence- Moreton Basin sequence are Lower Jurassic sediments comprising a thick, porous and permeable sandstone unit in the Bundamba Group, and channel and point-bar sands in the Marburg Formation. Source rocks in these and the underlying Triassic coal measures are gas-prone and lie at maturity levels compatible with gas generation. In contrast, it was established from the results of Shannon 1 that the Walloon Coal Measures are mature for oil generation and this maturity regime is now considered to be applicable to most of the basin in New South Wales.A consideration of reservoir and source rock distribution, together with structural trends across the basin in Petroleum Exploration Licences 258 and 259, has led to the identification of three prospective fairways, two of which involve shallow oil plays. Exploration of these fairways is currently the focus of an ongoing programme of further seismic data acquisition and drilling.


1997 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 415 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.M. Faiz ◽  
A.C. Hutton

The coal seam gas content of the Late Permian Illawarra Coal Measures ranges from Methane that occurs within the basin was mainly derived as a by-product of coalification. Most of the CO2 was derived from intermittent magmatic activity between the Triassic and the Tertiary. This gas has subsequently migrated, mainly in solution, towards structural highs and accumulated in anticlines and near sealed faults.The total desorbable gas content of the coal seams is mainly related to depth, gas composition and geological structure. At depths


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 397-408
Author(s):  
Han Sijie ◽  
Sang Shuxun ◽  
Zhou Peiming ◽  
Jia Jinlong ◽  
Liang Jingjing

In the Jiyang Sub-basin, Carboniferous-Permian (C-P) coal-measure source rocks have experienced complex multi-stage tectonics and therefore have a complex history of hydrocarbon generation. Because these coal measures underwent multi-stage burial and exhumation, they are characterized by various burial depths. In this study, we used the basin modeling technique to analyze the relationship between burial history and hydrocarbon generation evolution. The burial, thermal and maturity histories of C-P coals were reconstructed, including primary hydrocarbon generation, stagnation, re-initiation, and peak secondary hydrocarbon generation. The secondary hydrocarbon generation stage within this reconstruction was characterized by discontinuous generation and geographical differences in maturity due to the coupled effects of depth and a delay of hydrocarbon generation. According to the maturity history and the delay effect on secondary hydrocarbon generation, we concluded that the threshold depth of secondary hydrocarbon generation in the Jiyang Sub-basin occurred at 2,100 m during the Yanshan epoch (from 205 Ma to 65 Ma) and at 3,200 m during the Himalayan period (from 65 Ma to present). Based on depth, residual thickness, maturity, and hydrocarbon-generating intensity, five favorable areas of secondary hydrocarbon generation in the Jiyang Sub-basin were identified, including the Chexi areas, Gubei-Luojia areas, Yangxin areas, the southern slope of the Huimin depression and southwest of the Dongying depression. The maximum VRo/burial depth (%/km) occurred in the Indosinian epoch as the maximum VRo/time (%/100Ma) happened in the Himalayan period, indicating that the coupling controls of temperature and subsidence rate on maturation evolution play a significant role in the hydrocarbon generation evolution. A higher temperature and subsidence rate can both enhance the hydrocarbon generation evolution.  


1918 ◽  
Vol 5 (7) ◽  
pp. 289-293
Author(s):  
R. Etheridge ◽  
A.C. Seward

In 1849 Professor J. D. Dana described certain leaves from the Illawarra District and Newcastle, New South Wales, occurring in the Upper Coal-measures. To these he gave the name of Noeggerathia spathulata and N. media. Long after, in 1879 to be exact, Dr. O. Feistmantel established his genus Noeggerathiopsis for the reception of similar leaves from the Talchir-Kararbari Beds of the Lower Gondwana System, and from his remarks it may, by inference, be concluded that Dana's were included in the new genus also. This inference is justified by Feistmantel's later definite reference of these leaves to Noeggerathiopsis; at the same time he added another species, N. prisca, from the Lower Coal-measures at Greta. He believed them to be closely allied with Cycadeaceae.


1982 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
A. R. Martin ◽  
J. D. Saxby

The geology and exploration history of the Triassic-Cretaceous Clarence-Moreton Basin are reviewed. Consideration of new geochemical data ('Rock-Eval', vitrinite reflectance, gas chromatography of extracts, organic carbon and elemental analysis of coals and kerogens) gives further insights into the hydrocarbon potential of the basin. Although organic-rich rocks are relatively abundant, most source rocks that have achieved the levels of maturation necessary for hydrocarbon generation are gas-prone. The exinite-rich oil-prone Walloon Coal Measures are in most parts relatively immature. Some restraints on migration pathways are evident and igneous and tectonic events may have disturbed potentially well-sealed traps. Further exploration is warranted, even though the basin appears gas-prone and the overall prospects for hydrocarbons are only fair. The most promising areas seem to be west of Toowoomba for oil and the Clarence Syncline for gas.


1983 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 75 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Kantsler ◽  
T. J. C. Prudence ◽  
A. C. Cook ◽  
M. Zwigulis

The Cooper Basin is a complex intracratonic basin containing a Permian-Triassic succession which is uncomformably overlain by Jurassic-Cretaceous sediments of the Eromanga Basin. Abundant inertinite-rich humic source rocks in the Permian coal measures sequence have sourced some 3TCF recoverable gas and 300 million barrels recoverable natural gas liquids and oil found to date in Permian sandstones. Locally developed vitrinitic and exinite-rich humic source rocks in the Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous section have, together with Permian source rocks, contributed to a further 60 million barrels of recoverable oil found in fluvial Jurassic-Cretaceous sandstones.Maturity trends vary across the basin in response to a complex thermal history, resulting in a present-day geothermal gradient which ranges from 3.0°C/100 m to 6.0°C/100 m. Permian source rocks are generally mature to postmature for oil generation, and oil/condensate-prone and dry gas-prone kitchens exist in separate depositional troughs. Jurassic source rocks generally range from immature to mature but are postmature in the central Nappamerri Trough. The Nappamerri Trough is considered to have been the most prolific Jurassic oil kitchen because of the mature character of the crudes found in Jurassic reservoirs around its flanks.Outside the central Nappamerri Trough, maturation modelling studies show that most hydrocarbon generation followed rapid subsidence during the Cenomanian. Most syndepositional Permian structures are favourably located in time and space to receive this hydrocarbon charge. Late formed structures (Mid-Late Tertiary) are less favourably situated and are rarely filled to spill point.The high CO2 contents of the Permian gas (up to 50 percent) may be related to maturation of the humic Permian source rocks and thermal degradation of Permian crudes. However, the high δ13C of the CO2 (av. −6.9 percent) suggests some mixing with CO2 derived from thermal breakdown of carbonates within both the prospective sequence and economic basement.


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