Adavale Basin petroleum plays

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 958
Author(s):  
Alison Troup ◽  
Behnam Talebi

The Devonian Adavale Basin system is an under-explored, frontier petroleum basin in south-west Queensland. It has a confirmed petroleum system with production from the Gilmore gas field. The age, marine depositional environments and high carbonate content suggest the basin may have unconventional petroleum potential, and there has been renewed interest from industry in evaluating the basin. In support of this, the Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy has examined the source rock properties of the Bury Limestone and Log Creek Formation and has commissioned an update to the SEEBASE® interpretation of the region. Gas- to oil-mature source rocks are found in deep marine shales of the Log Creek Formation, with secondary potential in the shelfal Bury Limestone. The main known reservoir within the Adavale Basin is the Lissoy Sandstone, though sandstones found in other units may also have tight reservoir potential. These petroleum systems elements form several plays, including conventional clastic structural targets, carbonate plays, including possible reef targets, and salt plays associated with doming from the Boree Salt. Potential unconventional targets include tight sandstone, shale and limestone, with recent analysis of an organic-rich marl from the Bury Limestone indicating good retention properties. The overlying Cooper, Galilee and Eromanga basins also contain potential reservoirs for hydrocarbons generated in the Adavale Basin and Warrabin Trough.

2007 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Draper

Queensland contains a number of carbonate-bearing basins which are under-explored for petroleum, but contain the elements of potentially economic petroleum systems. The oldest such basin is the Neoproterozoic to Ordovician Georgina Basin which straddles the Queensland-Northern Territory border and is traversed by the Ballera to Mount Isa gas pipeline.The basin developed across several major crustal blocks resulting in regional variations in deposition and deformation. Thick Neoproterozoic rocks of the Centralian Superbasin form the base of the sequence in apparently fault-bounded, extensional sub-basins. These rocks are generally tight and source rocks are unknown. The Cambrian to Ordovician rocks have the best petroleum potential with the most prospective part of the basin being the Toko Syncline. The Burke River Structural Belt is less prospective, but is worthy of further exploration. Basin fill consists of Cambrian and Early Ordovician rocks which are dominantly carbonates, with both limestones and dolostones present. In the Early to Middle Ordovician, the rocks became predominantly siliciclastic.The main phase of deformation affecting the Georgina Basin occurred in the Devonian as part of the Alice Springs Orogeny. The Toomba Fault, which forms the western boundary of the asymmetric Toko Syncline, is a thrust fault with up to 6.5 km of uplift. The angle of thrusting is between less than 40 degrees and up to 70 degrees. Rich, marine source rocks of Middle Cambrian age in the Toko Syncline are mature for oil except in the deepest part of the syncline where they are mature for dry gas. The deeper part of the Toko Syncline may be gas saturated.Potential hydrocarbon targets include large folds associated with fault rollovers, stratigraphic traps and faultbounded traps. Vugular, secondary porosity in dolostones offers the best chance for commercial reservoirs within the Ninmaroo and Kelly Creek formations and Thorntonia Limestone. There are also oolitic carbonates which may have good primary porosity, as well as interbedded sandstones in the carbonates with preserved porosity. Structurally controlled hydrothermal dolomite facies represent potential reservoirs. The dominantly siliciclastic Ordovician sequence is water flushed. Fracture porosity is another possibility (cf. the Palm Valley gas field in the Amadeus Basin). As the deeper part of the Toko Syncline appears to be gas saturated, there may be potential for basin-centred gas. Fine-grained carbonates and shales provide excellent seals. There has not been a valid structural test; although AOD Ethabuka–1 flowed 7,000 m3/d of dry gas, the well was abandoned short of the target depth.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain C. Scotchman ◽  
Anthony G. Doré ◽  
Anthony M. Spencer

AbstractThe exploratory drilling of 200 wildcat wells along the NE Atlantic margin has yielded 30 finds with total discovered resources of c. 4.1×109 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE). Exploration has been highly concentrated in specific regions. Only 32 of 144 quadrants have been drilled, with only one prolific province discovered – the Faroe–Shetland Basin, where 23 finds have resources totalling c. 3.7×109 BOE. Along the margin, the pattern of discoveries can best be assessed in terms of petroleum systems. The Faroe–Shetland finds belong to an Upper Jurassic petroleum system. On the east flank of the Rockall Basin, the Benbecula gas and the Dooish condensate/gas discoveries have proven the existence of a petroleum system of unknown source – probably Upper Jurassic. The Corrib gas field in the Slyne Basin is evidence of a Carboniferous petroleum system. The three finds in the northern Porcupine Basin are from Upper Jurassic source rocks; in the south, the Dunquin well (44/23-1) suggests the presence of a petroleum system there, but of unknown source. This pattern of petroleum systems can be explained by considering the distribution of Jurassic source rocks related to the break-up of Pangaea and marine inundations of the resulting basins. The prolific synrift marine Upper Jurassic source rock (of the Northern North Sea) was not developed throughout the pre-Atlantic Ocean break-up basin system west of Britain and Ireland. Instead, lacustrine–fluvio-deltaic–marginal marine shales of predominantly Late Jurassic age are the main source rocks and have generated oils throughout the region. The structural position, in particular relating to the subsequent Early Cretaceous hyperextension adjacent to the continental margin, is critical in determining where this Upper Jurassic petroleum system will be most effective.


1999 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 322 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.M. Carlsen ◽  
S.N. Apak ◽  
K.A.R. Ghori K. Grey ◽  
M.K. Stevens

The sedimentology, palaeontology and geochemistry of Neoproterozoic, organic-rich, clastic and related carbonate deposits in Western Australia provide new insights into the first-order depositional controls on hydrocarbon source rocks in the Neoproterozoic. Organic facies are correlated with depositional facies, revealing the impact of organic productivity and transport of organic rich sediments on the accumulation of organic matter in different depositional environments. Sedimentation is largely limited to ramp, platform, shoal, lagoon and sabkha environments.Growth of benthic organisms in the photic zone was the primary process controlling the production of organic matter in the ramp-shoreline system of the Kanpa Formation. Storms and floods were the primary mechanism for moving organic rich sediments into dysoxic and anoxic depositional environments. Variations in organic facies are indicated by: 1) changes in the palynomorph assemblages, particularly the increase in acritarchs within shallow-water ramp facies and cyanobacterial filaments in quiet-water sediments; 2) organic-rich laminae, containing abundant cyanobacterial filaments and mat material; and 3) the oxidation state of preserved organic remains.Periods of high organic growth rates or periods of mass mortality may have led to the development of an anoxic zone at the water-sediment interface. In the shoal and lagoonal settings, higher rates of clastic sediment dilution combined with oxygenated conditions resulted in lower TOC and hydrogen depleted organic facies.Condensed sections overlying stromatolitic dolomites represent the most effective organic facies of all of the potential source laminae sampled in Empress–IA. Most of the Officer Basin succession is currently within the oil-generating window and hydrocarbon shows encourage further exploration.


2020 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-42
Author(s):  
Emilia Tulan ◽  
Michaela S. Radl ◽  
Reinhard F. Sachsenhofer ◽  
Gabor Tari ◽  
Jakub Witkowski

AbstractDiatomaceous sediments are often prolific hydrocarbon source rocks. In the Paratethys area, diatomaceous rocks are widespread in the Oligo-Miocene strata. Diatomites from three locations, Szurdokpüspöki (Hungary) and Limberg and Parisdorf (Austria), were selected for this study, together with core materials from rocks underlying diatomites in the Limberg area. Bulk geochemical parameters (total organic carbon [TOC], carbonate and sulphur contents and hydrogen index [HI]) were determined for a total of 44 samples in order to study their petroleum potential. Additionally, 24 samples were prepared to investigate diatom assemblages.The middle Miocene diatomite from Szurdokpüspöki (Pannonian Basin) formed in a restricted basin near a volcanic silica source. The diatom-rich succession is separated by a rhyolitic tuff into a lower non-marine and an upper marine layer. An approximately 12-m thick interval in the lower part has been investigated. It contains carbonate-rich diatomaceous rocks with a fair to good oil potential (average TOC: 1.28% wt.; HI: 178 to 723 mg HC/g TOC) in its lower part and carbonate-free sediments without oil potential in its upper part (average TOC: 0.14% wt.). The composition of the well-preserved diatom flora supports a near-shore brackish environment. The studied succession is thermally immature. If mature, the carbonate-rich part of the succession may generate about 0.25 tons of hydrocarbons per square meter. The diatomaceous Limberg Member of the lower Miocene Zellerndorf Formation reflects upwelling along the northern margin of the Alpine-Carpathian Foreland. TOC contents are very low (average TOC: 0.13% wt.) and demonstrate that the Limberg Member is a very poor source rock. The same is true for the underlying and over-lying rocks of the Zellerndorf Formation (average TOC: 0.78% wt.). Diatom preservation was found to differ considerably between the study sites. The Szurdokpüspöki section is characterised by excellent diatom preservation, while the diatom valves from Parisdorf/Limberg are highly broken. One reason for this contrast could be the different depositional environments. Volcanic input is also likely to have contributed to the excellent diatom preservation in Szurdokpüspöki. In contrast, high-energy upwelling currents and wave action may have contributed to the poor diatom preservation in Parisdorf. The hydrocarbon potential of diatomaceous rocks of Oligocene (Chert Member; Western Carpathians) and Miocene ages (Groisenbach Member, Aflenz Basin; Kozakhurian sediments, Kaliakra canyon of the western Black Sea) has been studied previously. The comparison shows that diatomaceous rocks deposited in similar depositional settings may hold largely varying petroleum potential and that the petroleum potential is mainly controlled by local factors. For example, both the Kozakhurian sediments and the Limberg Member accumulated in upwelling environments but differ greatly in source rock potential. Moreover, the petroleum potential of the Szurdokpüspöki diatomite, the Chert Member and the Groisenbach Member differs greatly, although all units are deposited in silled basins.


2021 ◽  
pp. M57-2017-15
Author(s):  
Michael B. W. Fyhn ◽  
Peter Alsen ◽  
Morten Bjerager ◽  
Jørgen A. Bojesen-Koefoed ◽  
Flemming G. Christiansen ◽  
...  

AbstractThe Devonian to lower Eocene Central-East and NE Greenland Composite Tectono-Sedimentary Element CTSE) is a part of the North-East Atlantic rift system. East and NE Greenland geology is therefore analogues to that of the prolific basins on the conjugate Atlantic margin and in the North Sea in many respects. None the less, hydrocarbon discoveries remain. The presence of world-class source rocks, reservoirs and seals, together with large structures, may suggest an East and NE Greenland petroleum potential, however. The TSE was established through Devonian - Carboniferous, Permian - Triassic and Jurassic - Cretaceous rifting interspersed by periods of uplift and post-rift sagging. Subsequently, Paleocene - Eocene magma-rich rifting accompanied the North-East Atlantic break-up. Depositional environments through time varied in response to the changing tectonism and climate. None-marine deposition dominated until the end of the Triassic, only interrupted by marine sedimentation during Late Permian - Early Triassic times. Subsequently, marine conditions prevailed during the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Volumetric series of basalt erupted over most of the CTSE during the latest Paleocene - early Eocene following a significant latest Cretaceous - Paleocene regression, uplift and erosion event. Since the Eocene, denudation pulses have removed much of these basalts uniquely exposing the up to 17 km strata of the CTSE.


Author(s):  
Mahamuda Abu ◽  
Mutiu Adesina Adeleye ◽  
Olugbenga Ajayi Ehinola ◽  
Daniel Kwadwo Asiedu

Abstract Neoproterozoic sedimentary basins are increasingly gaining hydrocarbon exploration attention globally following results of significant discoveries in these basins as a result of long, consistent and focused research and exploration efforts. The hydrocarbon prospectivity of the unexplored Mesoproterozoic–Early Paleozoic Voltaian basin is reviewed relative to global Neoproterozoic basins. Like the Voltaian basin of Ghana, global Neoproterozoic basins have experienced similar geological event of glaciation with accompanying deposition of marginal–shallow marine carbonates and associated siliciclastic argillaceous sediments. These carbonates and argillaceous sediments coupled with deep anoxic depositional environments, favored the preservation of organic matter in these sediments and carbonates globally making them source rocks and in some cases the reservoir rocks as well, to hydrocarbon occurrence. The hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Voltaian is highly probable with Neoproterozoic basins of similar geologic analogies, Amadeus basin, Illizi basin, the Tindouf and Taoudeni basins of the WAC, having proven and active petroleum systems with some listed as world class oil/gas producing basins together with other Neoproterozoic basins like South Salt Oman basin, Barnett shales and giant gas reserves of southwestern Sichuan basin of China.


Georesursy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-84
Author(s):  
Anna A. Suslova ◽  
Antonina V. Stoupakova ◽  
Alina V. Mordasova ◽  
Roman S. Sautkin

Barents Sea basin is the most explored and studied by the regional and petroleum geologists on the Russian Arctic shelf and has approved gas reserves. However, there are many questions in the petroleum exploration, one of them is the structural reconstruction. During its geological evolution, Barents Sea shelf was influenced by the Pre-Novaya Zemlya structural zone that uplifted several times in Mesozoic and Cenozoic. The main goal of the research is to clarify the periods of structural reconstructions of the Eastern Barents shelf and its influence on the petroleum systems of the Barents Sea shelf. A database of regional seismic profiles and offshore borehole data collected over the past decade on the Petroleum Geology Department of the Lomonosov Moscow State University allows to define main unconformities and seismic sequences, to reconstruct the periods of subsidence and uplifts in Mesozoic and Cenozoic. The structural reconstructions on the Eastern Barents Sea in the Triassic-Jurassic boundary led to intensive uplifts and formation of the huge inversion swells, which is expressed in erosional truncation and stratigraphic unconformity in the Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic strata. In the Jurassic period, tectonic subsidence reigned on the shelf, when the uplifts including the highs of Novaya Zemlya were partially flooded and regional clay seal and source rocks – Upper Jurassic «black clays» – deposited on the shelf. The next contraction phase manifested itself as a second impulse of the growth of inversion swells in the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous. Cenozoic uplift of the Pre-Novaya Zemlya structural zone and the entire Barents Sea shelf led to significant erosion of the Mesozoic sediments, on the one hand, forming modern structural traps, and on the other, significantly destroying the Albian, once regional seal.


Georesursy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-38
Author(s):  
Tatyana V. Karaseva ◽  
Yury A. Yakovlev ◽  
Galina L. Belyaeva ◽  
Svetlana E. Bashkova

This article is devoted to the problem of studying the petroleum potential of the underexplored territories of the European part of Russia, in particular, the Vychegda trough. Taken a new approach to assessing the hydrocarbon potential of the Vychegda trough, based on the allocation of petroleum systems, widely used abroad. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the geological structure of the deflection and geological-geochemical results, including those obtained by the authors, two potential petroleum systems – “domanic” and “riphean” – were identified. The potential domanic petroleum system dominates in the Eastern regions and is a peripheral fragment of the regional petroleum system covering the territory of the Volga-Ural and Timan-Pechora basins. The system is linked to development in the South-Eastern part of the trough and the neighbouring Solikamsk depression of bituminous domanic and domanicoid sediments as a source rock, which is confirmed by the genetic correlation of crude oils of Devonian-Carboniferous deposits of the Northern districts of Solikamsk depression with domanic biomarker. The stratigraphic range of the domanic system is upper Devonian-upper Permian; the formation time is late Devonian-Mesozoic. The potential Riphean hydrocarbon system can be identified by the fact of oil-bitumen occurrences in the Proterozoic strata and the presence of the productive source rocks in the upper Riphean. The source rocks were at oil window. The Riphean system can cover the entire territory of the Vychegda trough, and the section from the Riphean to upper Permian sediments. The time of the system formation – Riphean-Mesozoic. Due to large thickness of the Riphean sediments, even with a large loss of hydrocarbon potential, the residual potential hydrocarbon resources of the Riphean petroleum system can be very significant. Based on the research conducted, prioritized exploration studies are substantiated.


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 755 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Hall ◽  
Emmanuelle Grosjean ◽  
Irina Borissova ◽  
Chris Southby ◽  
Ryan Owens ◽  
...  

Interpretation of newly acquired seismic data in the northern Houtman Sub-basin (Perth Basin) suggests the region contains potential source rocks similar to those in the producing Abrolhos Sub-basin. The regionally extensive late Permian–Early Triassic Kockatea Shale has the potential to contain the oil-prone Hovea Member source interval. Large Permian syn-rift half-graben, up to 10 km thick, are likely to contain a range of gas-prone source rocks. Further potential source rocks may be found in the Jurassic–Early Cretaceous succession, including the Cattamarra Coal Measures, Cadda shales and mixed sources within the Yarragadee Formation. This study investigated the possible maturity and charge history of these different source rocks. A regional pseudo-3D petroleum systems model was constructed using new seismic interpretations. Heat flow was modelled using crustal structure and possible basement composition determined from potential field modelling, and subsidence analysis was used to investigate lithospheric extension through time. The model was calibrated using temperature and maturity data from nine wells in the Houtman and Abrolhos sub-basins. Source rock properties are assigned based on an extensive review of total organic carbon, Rock Eval and kinetic data for the offshore northern Perth Basin. Petroleum systems analysis results show that Permian, Triassic and Early Jurassic source rocks may have generated large cumulative volumes of hydrocarbons across the northern Houtman Sub-basin, whereas the Middle Jurassic–Cretaceous sources remain largely immature. However, the timing of hydrocarbon generation and expulsion with respect to trap formation and structural reactivation is critical for the successful development and preservation of hydrocarbon accumulations.


1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 278 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.D. Alder ◽  
C. Bembrick ◽  
B. Hartung-Kagi ◽  
B. Mullard ◽  
D.A. Pratt ◽  
...  

New data, including regional high resolution aeromagnet ic coverage, acquired by the New South Wales Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) as part of its Discovery 2000 Initiative, have provided the first opportunity for a comprehensive review of the regional framework of the Darling Basin. Covering an area of 90,000 km2 in central western NSW, the Darling Basin contains over 8,000 m of mainly Palaeozoic sediments. With only 17 petroleum wells drilled in the basin, mostly during the 1960s and 1970s, and some 1,550 km of modern multifold seismic coverage, the Darling Basin represents one of the major frontier basinal regions of onshore Australia.The initial phase of petroleum exploration was discouraged by the lack of shows, the likelihood of gas-prone source rocks and presence of a thick, red-bed dominated, organically lean, Late Devonian sequence. Renewed interest in the Darling Basin's prospectivity followed from favourable, albeit superficial, comparisons between the Darling Basin and Queensland's Adavale Basin, where commercial gas is produced at the Gilmore Gas Field. Additionally, as part of some $15 million expenditure by the DMR on acquiring new and reassessing old data from the Darling Basin, new geochemical analyses of extracts collected from core holes and out-crop suggest the presence of at least one active Palaeozoic petroleum system. This system has been responsible for generating oil and possibly substantial quantities of gas found dissolved within artesian waters in the overlying shallow Mesozoic sequences.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document