INITIAL REVIEW OF THE BIOSTRATIGRAPHY AND PETROLEUM SYSTEMS AROUND THE TASMAN SEA HYDROCARBON-PRODUCING BASINS

2006 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 201
Author(s):  
R.A. Cook ◽  
E.M. Crouch ◽  
J.I. Raine ◽  
C.P. Strong ◽  
C.I. Uruski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Sequence Stratigraphy ◽  
Sedimentary Basin ◽  
Geological History ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
Tasman Sea ◽  
Internal Structures ◽  
History Of ◽  
Gippsland Basin ◽  
Recent Refinement

Understanding the genesis and habitat of hydrocarbons in a sedimentary basin takes knowledge of that basin at many levels, from basic infill geology to petroleum systems, plays, prospects and detailed sequence stratigraphy. While geophysics can define the basins and their internal structures, biostratigraphy and paleogeography provide greater understanding of basin geology. Micropaleontology and palynology are the chief tools that we need to define both the environment and dimension of time.As an example, the reconstruction of the Tasman Sea region to the mid-Cretaceous (ca 120 Ma) shows that the hydrocarbon-producing Gippsland and Taranaki petroleum basins developed at similar latitudes and in similar geological contexts. Other basins within the region have been lightly explored and need evaluation as to the value of further exploration.As paleontology has developed separately in Australia and New Zealand, comparison of biostratigraphic zones and their chronostratigraphy is critical to understand the similarity or otherwise of the sedimentary record of the two regions. Recent refinement of the NZ timescale and comparative studies on Gippsland Basin wells by NZ paleontologists have provided some key insights that enable us to compare the geological history of both regions more closely, and to recognise similarities in petroleum systems that may enhance petroleum prospects on both sides of the Tasman Sea.

Geological History of Brachyuran Decapods From New Zealand

1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 443-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney M. Feldmann ◽  
Colin L. McLay
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Geological History ◽  
History Of

Revisiting petroleum systems in the Gippsland Basin using new geochemical data

2010 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert Volk ◽  
Manzur Ahmed ◽  
Chris Boreham ◽  
Peter Tingate ◽  
Neil Sherwood ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Weight ◽  
Fluid Inclusions ◽  
Isotope Geochemistry ◽  
Isotopic Analysis ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Molecular Weight Range ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
History Of ◽  
Gippsland Basin

The Gippsland Basin is one of the most prolific petroleum provinces in Australia, yet the understanding of source, migration and secondary alteration of petroleum is often based on data and concepts that have been developed decades ago. For instance, the Gippsland Basin is commonly cited as an explicit example of a province dominated by oil from coal, yet there is no literature using molecular and isotope geochemistry explicitly demonstrating that generation and expulsion has been from the coal seams and not the intervening carbonaceous mudstones. In this study we will present insights from the evaluation of quantitative analyses of aromatic hydrocarbons, which will be evaluated together with low molecular weight hydrocarbon distributions from whole oil gas chromatography and aliphatic biomarker distributions of the oils. Oils are commonly incrementors of different charge events, and hence extending molecular and isotopic information from a wide molecular weight range offers a more detailed insight into the charge history of an oil field. Oil-bearing fluid inclusions are additional archives that hold keys to the fill history of petroleum reservoirs, and this contribution will also present new data on the distribution and composition of palaeo-oils trapped in fluid inclusions. Lastly, examples will be presented of how modern tools for analysis such as compound specific isotopic analysis (CSIA) of n-alkanes and isoprenoids as well as how understanding relationships between organic facies and source rock kinetics can contribute to refining our understanding of petroleum systems in the Gippsland Basin.

Understanding the plumbing of the Gippsland Basin: new results on fluid migration and reservoir quality

2011 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 693
Author(s):  
Peter Tingate ◽  
Monica Campi ◽  
Geoffrey O'Brien ◽  
John Miranda ◽  
Louise Goldie Divko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Co2 Storage ◽  
Fluid Migration ◽  
Gas Field ◽  
Reservoir Characteristics ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
Migration History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hydrocarbon Charge ◽  
Gippsland Basin ◽  
Migration Pathways

Understanding the CO2 storage potential and petroleum prospectivity of the Gippsland Basin are critical to managing the resources of this region. Key controls on determining the prospectivity for CO2 storage and petroleum include understanding the fluid migration history and reservoir characteristics in the basin. Gippsland Basin hydrology, reservoir characteristics and petroleum systems are being studied to better understand how CO2 can be safely stored in the subsurface. Hydrocarbon migration pathways have been delineated using petroleum systems modelling. The latest hydrocarbon charge history data has been acquired to test the containment potential of individual structures along these migration pathways. The charge history results indicate the Golden Beach gas field has had a complex hydrocarbon fill history, and that early charge has migrated through the regional seal. The results also indicate that early oil charge was very common in the basin, including large structures that are now filled with gas (e.g. Barracouta). The results allow the regions with good CO2 containment potential to be delineated for further storage investigations. A new evaluation of the reservoir characteristics of the Latrobe Group—through porosity/permeability analysis and automated mineral analysis (AMA)—has provided insights into CO2 injectivity and capacity. The AMA results constrain the mineralogy and diagenetic history of the reservoirs and seals. In addition, the data highlights the presence of carbonates, glauconite and K-feldspar that are potentially reactive with injected CO2.

STRATIGRAPHIC MODELLING OF THE GIPPSLAND BASIN

1991 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Feathers tone ◽  
T. Aigner ◽  
L. Brown ◽  
M. King ◽  
W. Leu
Keyword(s):  
Sedimentary Facies ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Time Stepping ◽  
Subsidence History ◽  
Basin Subsidence ◽  
Tasman Sea ◽  
History Of ◽  
Break Up ◽  
Semi Empirical ◽  
Gippsland Basin

The Gippsland Basin is an asymmetric graben which initially formed during the break-up of Australia and Antarctica in the Early Cretaceous. During continental rifting the basin was filled by volcano-clastics of the Strzelecki Group. The overlying alluvial sediments of the Golden Beach Group represent a second phase of rift fill associated with the Tasman Sea rift. Following continental break-up in the Campanian, the Latrobe Group was deposited as a transgressive sequence of marine and coastal plain sediments. Thermal subsidence from the Oligocene to Recent was accompanied by the deposition of marine marls and limestones of the Lakes Entrance Formation and Gippsland Limestone.A north-south cross-section through the basin, based on regional seismic data and nine exploration wells, has been used to study the tectonic, thermal and basin-fill history. A detailed basin subsidence history based on a crustal rifting model was constructed, constrained by stratigraphic data and palaeo-water depth estimates at well locations. The history of sedimentation was then modelled by a Shell proprietary package, using the subsidence history and published eustatic sea level variations. This numerical model is based on a forward time-stepping scheme using semi-empirical algorithms to define the facies deposited. The gross basin architecture of the Gippsland Basin is successfully reproduced by the model. In addition the model details the timing and extent of marine incursions in the Golden Beach Group and the eustatic control on facies patterns in the Latrobe Group.The method has potential for predicting the sedimentary facies in undrilled parts of the Gippsland Basin and in frontier areas in general.

Geological history of the north-eastern ring plain of Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand

1996 ◽  
Vol 34-36 ◽  
pp. 21-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shane J. Cronin ◽  
Vincent E. Neall ◽  
Alan S. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Geological History ◽  
The North ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ruapehu Volcano

NEOGENE TECTONICS IN SE AUSTRALIA: IMPLICATIONS FOR PETROLEUM SYSTEMS

2001 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. Dickinson ◽  
M.W. Wallace ◽  
G.R. Holdgate ◽  
J. Daniels ◽  
S.J. Gallagher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
Australian Plate ◽  
Late Tertiary ◽  
Petroleum Generation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Petroleum Accumulation ◽  
Gippsland Basin

The influence of Neogene tectonics in the SE Australian basins has generally been underestimated in the petroleum exploration literature. However, onshore stratigraphic and offshore seismic data indicates that significant deformation and exhumation (up to one km or more) has occurred during the late Tertiary-Quaternary. This tectonism coincides with a change in the dynamics of the Australian plate, beginning at around 12 Ma, resulting in a WNW–ESE compressional regime which has continued to the present day.Significant late Miocene tectonism is indicated by a regional angular unconformity at around the Mio-Pliocene boundary in the onshore and nearshore successions of the SE Australian basins.Evidence of on going Pliocene- Quaternary tectonism is widespread in all of the SE Australian basins. Late Tertiary tectonism has produced structures in the offshore SE Australian basins which have been favourable targets for petroleum accumulation (e.g. Nerita structure, Torquay Sub-basin; Cormorant structure, Bass Basin). In the offshore Gippsland Basin, most of the oil- and gas-bearing structures have grown during Oligocene-Recent time. Some Gippsland Basin structures were largely produced prior to the mid- Miocene, while others have a younger structural history. In areas of intense late Tertiary exhumation and uplift (e.g. proximal to the Otway and Strzelecki Ranges), burial/maturation models of petroleum generation may be significantly affected by Neogene uplift.Many structures produced by late Miocene-Pliocene deformation are dry. These relatively young structures may post-date the major maturation episodes, with the post-structure history of the basins dominated by exhumation and cooling.

Geochemical underpinnings of Australia's offshore hydrocarbon prospectivity

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 415
Author(s):  
Marita Bradshaw ◽  
Dianne Edwards ◽  
Chris Boreham ◽  
Emmanuelle Grosjean ◽  
Jennifer Totterdell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Source Rock ◽  
Lower Triassic ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
Isotopic Analyses ◽  
Marine Source ◽  
History Of ◽  
Hydrocarbon Sources ◽  
Geochemical Analyses ◽  
Gippsland Basin

Molecular and isotopic analyses of oils and gases can provide information on the depositional environment, maturation and age of their source rocks, and the post expulsion history of the hydrocarbons generated. Source rock analyses can determine their potential to generate hydrocarbons of varying type over specific thermal ranges, as well as demonstrating the strength of oil- or gas-to-source correlations. Together, this geochemical interpretation can provide insights about the extent of petroleum systems and can help delineate the relationships between hydrocarbon occurrences in a basin and across the continent. Oils that do not fit the well-established framework of oil families and Australian petroleum systems point to new source rock fairways. Examples include vagrant oils with lacustrine affinities found at various locations on the western Australian margin. Other examples are oil occurrences in the Gippsland Basin whose geochemical signatures contrast with the dominant non-marine oils, supporting the existence of a viable marine source rock facies. In under-explored and frontier basins, geochemical analyses of potential source rocks can provide key evidence to underpin new exploration efforts. For example, the recent acreage uptake in the Bight Basin was supported by Geoscience Australia’s recovery and analysis of oil-prone marine source rocks, and in the northern Perth Basin by new geochemical analysis extending the distribution of Lower Triassic Hovea marine source rocks offshore. Geoscience Australia has now embarked on a regional petroleum geological program that includes a national source rock study aimed at identifying and characterising Australia’s hydrocarbon sources, families and systems.

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