Exploration in Australia 2000–2010: reviewing a decade of growth

Oil and gas exploration in Australia, both on and offshore, has been centred on a small number of proven petroleum provinces and—given the extent of prospective basinal area that exists—it remains relatively under-explored to this day. Since the 1970s, companies have progressively spent a smaller proportion of their exploration budgets on onshore and shallow water targets, where discoveries have been regular yet unspectacular, in favour of the deeper waters, where higher risks are involved but the potential exists for significantly higher returns. This activity has led to the discovery of more than of 150 Tcf of gas in the North Carnarvon, Browse and Bonaparte basins, the majority of which sits in deepwater areas. An absence of infrastructure and a lack of an adequate market meant that these huge discoveries lay undeveloped; however, with developments in technology and demand for gas in Asia set to surge into the next decade, these previously stranded fields are set to move into development, underpinning economic growth in Australia and ensuring that the country moves to the forefront of the LNG industry worldwide. This paper will examine upstream activity, both on and offshore, in Australia since 2000, a decade in which the country has become one of the most prominent destinations for exploration expenditure in the world. Following the exploration cycle from acreage release through to discovery, it will look at how trends and activity have changed over time and examine how successful the industry has actually been. It will explore the factors driving activity and the effects external forces such as regulatory changes, oil price and prevailing economic conditions have had on activity levels. No post-Conference paper is available for this presentation. No post-conference paper is available for this presentation.