THE GEOLOGY OF THE OFFSHORE CANNING BASIN, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

1970 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 78 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Challinor
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Geophysical Data ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Canning Basin ◽  
Hydrocarbon Reservoir ◽  
Geophysical Surveys ◽  
Australian Continent ◽  
Carnarvon Basin

The Canning Basin is a major geological province of Western Australia and of the Australian continent. It constitutes a major crustal down-warp between the Precambrian Kimberley and Pilbara Blocks and extends offshore onto the wide Rowley Shelf. A large part of this shelf is held under petroleum exploration permit by a group of companies of which B.O.C. of Australia Limited is operator.To date no wells have been drilled in this offshore Canning Basin but extensive geophysical surveys have allowed an interpretive geological model to be presented. This model is based upon an interpretation of geophysical data by extrapolation from offshore data and well control in the Carnarvon Basin and onshore well, outcrop and geophysical data in the Canning Basin.The major Palaeozoic structural features of the Broome Swell and Fitzroy Graben which characterise the onshore Canning Basin extend offshore beneath Mesozoic and Tertiary cover. Thick Palaeozoic and Permo-Triassic sediments are thus expected offshore in the Fitzroy Graben extension and in a major sub-basin at the offshore margin of the Pilbara Block called the Bedout Sub-basin. This sub-basin is believed to have had continued development during the Mesozoic with the accumulation of large thicknesses of Jurassic-Cretaceous sediments. It is restricted further offshore by the structurally positive Rankin Platform, a feature reflected in a large positive gravity anomaly.Mesozoic deposition was associated with a westerly tilt of the Rowley Shelf and Mesozoic thickness consequently increases westwards. The tilt increased during the Tertiary with the development of a major Tertiary stratigraphic wedge locally reaching 8000-10,000 feet in thickness at the shelf edge.Sedimentary deposition was controlled throughout Phanerozoic time by periodic epeirogenic warping related to uplift of the two major blocks. These movements caused considerable structural fragmentation and initiated periods of exiensive erosion. Complex lithofacies variations are thus expected and multiple intra-sectional unconformities are evident.The area contains many fault induced fold features, some compressional folds and extensive stratigraphic trap potential. Coarse clastic units with high hydrocarbon reservoir potential are expected to occur in close association with postulated marine Mesozoic basinal shale sequences. Similar deposits in the Carnarvon Basin and its offshore extension have been proved to be hydrocarbon bearing and productive (Barrow Island). The hydrocarbon potential of the offshore Canning Basin is thus rated highly.

THE YELLOW DRUM FORMATION—A HYDROCARBON RESERVOIR, CANNING BASIN, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

1986 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 310
Author(s):  
H.T. Moors
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Crystalline Rock ◽  
Oil Reservoir ◽  
Depositional Model ◽  
Canning Basin ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Hydrocarbon Reservoir ◽  
Reservoir Development ◽  
Reservoir Potential

The Yellow Drum Formation has an extensive distribution on the Lennard Shelf of the Canning Basin. It straddles the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary and is a peritidal clearwater deposit. The environment of deposition controlled the diagenetic path followed by the sediments. The bulk of the formation was penecontem-poraneously dolomitized to a fine-grained crystalline rock with moderate porosity, with permeability too low to be an effective oil reservoir. However, in some facies the dolomite was coarser grained producing a good reservoir. Tertiary porosity was created by later leaching of remnant calcite, turning a good reservoir into an excellent reservoir.The environment of deposition is readily identified from examination of the sediments, which can then be located in a depositional model. From this the reservoir potential can be predicted. Conversely, from the identification of the portion of the depositional model in which the sediments were deposited it is possible to predict in what direction better reservoir development exists.

PETROLEUM IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA: A REVIEW OF EXPLORATION, PRODUCTION, AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

1975 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 72
Author(s):  
Phillip E. Playford
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Oil Reserves ◽  
The North ◽  
Recent Success ◽  
Northern Carnarvon Basin ◽  
Exploration Activity ◽  
Carnarvon Basin

Modern petroleum exploration has been in progress in Western Australia since 1952, and has been concentrated mainly in the Perth, Carnarvon, Canning, and Bonaparte Gulf Basins. Two large onshore fields have been developed, the Barrow Island oilfield in the Carnarvon Basin (found in 1964), and the Dongara gasfield in the Perth Basin (found in 1966). Small gasfields have also been developed at Mondarra, Gingin, and Walyering in the Perth Basin, but Gingin and Walyering are now virtually depleted.Major gas-condensate fields have been found offshore. These are the North Rankin, Goodwyn, West Tryal Rocks, and Angel fields in the northern Carnarvon Basin, and the Scott Reef field in the Browse Basin. They were found during the period 1971 to 1973, but none has yet been developed.Since 1968 the accent has been on offshore exploration, and this reached a peak in 1972. Exploration activity, both onshore and offshore, is currently declining, owing to the lack of recent success and the unfavourable exploration climate prevailing in Australia today.Original reserves in the Dongara gasfield amounted to about 13 billion cubic metres, of which nearly 2.1 billion have now been produced. Current gas production from Dongara and the small adjoining Mondarra field is about 2.2 million cubic metres per day, and production will continue at about this rate until 1981, after which it will begin declining. Production will fall steeply in 1987, when existing contracts expire. At that time about 90% of the reserves will have been depleted.The original in-place reserves of the Barrow Island oil-field amounted to some 750 million barrels, and it is expected that about 240 million will be recovered. Current oil production is around 37,000 barrels per day, compared with the peak of 48.000 barrels per day reached in 1970. Nearly 43% of the original reserves have now been produced.Total reserves of the major fields in the offshore northern Car-narvon Basin (in the proved and probable categories) are more than 345 billion cubic metres of gas and 320 million barrels of condensate. Of these amounts more than 220 billion cubic metres of gas and 180 million barrels of condensate are in the North Rankin field, which is the largest gasfield in Australia and is a giant by world standards. This is followed by Goodwyn (about 65 billion cubic metres of gas and 90 million barrels of condensate), West Tryal Rocks (more than 30 billion cubic metres of gas) and Angel (about 30 billion cubic metres of gas and 50 million barrels of condensate).Further drilling will be required before gas reserves of the Scott Reef field can be estimated, but the results of the first well and the size of the structure indicate that they could be very large. It is clear that future exploration in Western Australia will be mainly concentrated offshore, in the Carnarvon, Browse, Bonaparte Gulf, and Perth Basins. However, there are still some prospective onshore areas in the Perth, Carnarvon, and Canning Basins.The chances of finding giant oilfields in Western Australia have declined markedly in recent years, as It seems that the generative sequences are mainly gas prone, and most of the obvious structures have now been drilled. However, the prospects are good for further large gas discoveries, and there is a reasonable chance that significant oil reserves will also be found.

Petroleum source rocks of Western Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 282 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Ameed R. Ghori
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Lower Permian ◽  
Burial History ◽  
Canning Basin ◽  
Petroleum Systems ◽  
Northern Carnarvon Basin ◽  
Coal Measures ◽  
Carnarvon Basin

Petroleum geochemical analysis of samples from the Canning, Carnarvon, Officer and Perth basins identified several formations with source potential, the: • Triassic Locker Shale and Jurassic Dingo Claystone of the Northern Carnarvon Basin; • Permian Irwin River Coal Measures and Carynginia Formation, Triassic Kockatea Shale and Jurassic Cattamarra Coal Measures of the Perth Basin; • Ordovician Goldwyer and Bongabinni formations, Devonian Gogo Formation and Lower Carboniferous Laurel Formation of the Canning Basin; • Devonian Gneudna Formation of the Gascoyne Platform and the Lower Permian Wooramel and Byro groups of the Merlinleigh Sub-basin of the Southern Carnarvon Basin; and • Neoproterozoic Brown, Hussar, Kanpa and Steptoe formations of the Officer Basin. Burial history and geothermal basin modelling was undertaken using input parameters from geochemical analyses of rock samples, produced oil, organic petrology, apatite fission track analysis (AFTA), heat flows, subsurface temperatures and other exploration data compiled by the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA). Of these basins, the Canning, Carnarvon, and Perth basins are currently producing oil and gas, whereas the Southern Carnarvon and Officer basins have no commercial petroleum discovery yet, but they do have source, reservoir, seal and petroleum shows indicating the presence of petroleum systems. The Carnarvon Basin contains the richest identified petroleum source rocks, followed by the Perth and Canning basins. Production in the Carnarvon Basin is predominantly gas and oil, the Perth Basin is gas-condensate and the Canning Basin is oil dominated, demonstrating the variations in source rock type and maturity across the state. GSWA is continuously adding new data to assess petroleum systems and prospectivity of these and other basins in Western Australia.

THE HYDROCARBON POTENTIAL OF THE PALAEOZOIC BASINS OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA

1993 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Warris
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Early Carboniferous ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Source Rocks ◽  
Structural Development ◽  
Hydrocarbon Migration ◽  
North West ◽  
Canning Basin ◽  
Made In ◽  
Carnarvon Basin

There are four main Palaeozoic Basins in Western Australia; the Perth Basin (Permian only), the Carnarvon Basin (Ordovician-Permian), the Canning Basin (Ordovician-Permian) and the Bonaparte Basin (Cambrian-Permian).The Perth Basin is a proven petroleum province with commercially producing gas reserves from Permian strata in the Dongara, Woodada and Beharra Springs gas fields.The Palaeozoic of the Carnarvon Basin occurs in three main sub-basins, the Ashburton, Merlinleigh and Gascoyne Sub-basins. No commercial petroleum discoveries ahve been made in these basins.The Canning Basin can be divided into the southern Ordovician-Devonian province of the Willara and Kidson sub-basins and Wallal Embayment and Anketell Shelf, and the northern Devonian-Permian province of the Fitzroy and Gregory sub-basins. Commercial production from the Permo-Carboniferous Sundown, Lloyd, West Terrace, Boundary oilfields and from the Devonian Blina oilfield is present only in the Fitzroy sub-basins.The Bonaparte Basin contains Palaeozoic strata of Cambrian-Permian age but only the Devonian-Permian is considered prospective. Significant but currently non-producing gas discoveries have been made in the Permian of the Petrel and Tern offshore gas fields.Based on the current limited well control, the Palaeozoic basins of Western Australia contain excellent marine and non marine clastic reservoirs together with potential Upper Devonian and Lower Carboniferous reefs. The dominantly marine nature of the Palaeozoic provides thick marine shale seals for these reservoirs. Source rock data is very sparse but indicates excellent gas prone source rocks in the Early Permian and excellent—good oil prone source rocks in the Early Ordovician, Late Devonian, Early Carboniferous and Late Permian.Many large structures are present in these Palaeozoic basins. However, most of the existing wells were drilled either off structure due to insufficient and poor quality seismic or on structures formed during the Mesozoic which postdated primary hydrocarbon migration from the Palaeozoic source rocks.With modern seismic acquisition and processing techniques together with a better understanding of the stratigraphy, structural development and hydrocarbon migration, the Palaeozoic basins of Western Australia provide the explorer with a variety of high risk, high potential plays without the intense bidding competition currently present along the North West Shelf of Australia.

CONODONT COLOUR ALTERATION, THERMAL MATURATION AND THE GEOTHERMAL HISTORY OF THE CANNING BASIN, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

1984 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert S. Nicoll ◽  
John D. Gorter
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flow ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Horizontal Distribution ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Northern Margin ◽  
Canning Basin ◽  
Thermal Maturation ◽  
Oil Generation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Colour Alteration

Examination of conodont colour alteration (CAI) in samples from more than 40 petroleum exploration wells and extensive outcrop collections along the northern margin of the Lennard Shelf forms the basis for a study of the thermal maturation and geothermal history of the Canning Basin of Western Australia. The thickness of the measured CAI intervals is variable and does not conform to the 1200 m standard of the Appalachian Basin. The CAI interval 1 is thick and indicates a low geothermal gradient in the basin but CAI intervals 1.5 and 2 are thin and indicate higher geothermal gradients. A major thermal event of Miocene Age, associated with the intrusion of the Fltzroy Lamproites in the Fitzroy Graben and Lennard Shelf, may be the source of the increased heat flow and also explain an area of high heat flow in some parts of the Graben and shelf.Using the vertical and horizontal distribution of trends of the CAI intervals it is suggested that over large areas of the basin the oil generation window is restricted to an interval about 1100 m thick and, except where migration has taken place, that liquid hydrocarbons will be restricted to the interval between 1600 and 3000 m. In areas affected by the intrusion of the Fitzroy Lamproites, the top of the oil generation window may be as shallow as 800 m.

Structural and stratigraphic architecture of Australia's frontier onshore sedimentary basins: the Western Officer and Southern Carnarvon basins, Western Australia

2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 670
Author(s):  
Lidena Carr ◽  
Russell Korsch ◽  
Arthur Mory ◽  
Roger Hocking ◽  
Sarah Marshall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Sedimentary Basins ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Seismic Line ◽  
Seismic Reflection Data ◽  
Sequence Stratigraphic ◽  
Reflection Data ◽  
Half Graben ◽  
Seismic Lines ◽  
Carnarvon Basin

During the past five years, the Onshore Energy Security Program, funded by the Australian Government and conducted by Geoscience Australia, in conjunction with state and territory geological surveys, has acquired deep seismic reflection data across several frontier sedimentary basins to stimulate petroleum exploration in onshore Australia. This extended abstract presents data from two seismic lines collected in Western Australia in 2011. The 487 km long Yilgarn-Officer-Musgrave (YOM) seismic line crossed the western Officer Basin in Western Australia, and the 259 km long, Southern Carnarvon Seismic line crossed the Byro Sub-basin of the Southern Carnarvon Basin. The YOM survey imaged the Neoproterozoic to Devonian western Officer Basin, one of Australia's underexplored sedimentary basins with hydrocarbon potential. The survey data will also provide geoscientific knowledge on the architecture of Australia's crust and the relationship between the eastern Yilgarn Craton and the Musgrave Province. The Southern Carnarvon survey imaged the onshore section of the Ordovician to Permian Carnarvon Basin, which offshore is one of Australia's premier petroleum-producing provinces. The Byro Sub-basin is an underexplored depocentre with the potential for both hydrocarbon and geothermal energy. Where the seismic traverse crossed the Byro Sub-basin it imaged two relatively thick half graben, on west dipping bounding faults. Structural and sequence stratigraphic interpretations of the two seismic lines are presented in this extended abstract.

A History of Geological Exploration in the Canning Basin, Western Australia

1987 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-177
Author(s):  
V. Passmore ◽  
R. Towner
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Geological Mapping ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
Oil Exploration ◽  
Geological Exploration ◽  
Canning Basin ◽  
Geophysical Surveys ◽  
Lead Zinc ◽  
1960S And 1970S

The Canning Basin in northern Western Australia is a large, relatively remote, mainly desert-covered Phanerozoic basin covering 595 000 sq km. Aborigines probably first entered the basin area 30-40 000 years ago, but the main European expeditions were not until the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Geological exploration in the basin has been largely devoted to the discovery and exploitation of natural resources, primarily oil. Earliest geological traverses were conducted by geologists of the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA). The accidental discovery of traces of oil in a water well in 1919 in the northern part of the basin diverted exploration to assessment of sediments and structures for petroleum potential. The earliest phase of oil exploration was a pioneering phase, concentrating on surface mapping and surface delineated structures as drilling sites, that was dominated by the Freney Kimberley Oil Company. West Australia Petroleum Ltd became the most active oil exploration company in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, using geophysics as an exploration tool in petroleum search in the basin. The late 1970s and 1980s saw an influx of companies and the application of diverse scientific approaches to the oil search. Persistence was rewarded in 1981 and 1982 with the discovery of the Blina and Sundown fields, small commercial oil accumulations. Commonwealth Government involvement in exploration was initially in the form of financial aid to exploring companies or commissioning specialist consultants for special studies. In the 1940s and 1950s and again in the 1970s the Bureau of Mineral Resources carried out basin-wide regional geological mapping in conjunction with the GSWA; onshore and offshore geophysical surveys were conducted until the 1970s. Exploration has revealed exploitable resources in the basin besides oil - diamonds, lead-zinc, coal, salt, phosphate, uranium, and heavy minerals. Only lead-zinc has present economic viability.

RECENT GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL RESULTS IN THE NORTHEASTERN CANNING BASIN

1975 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
M. F. Drew ◽  
G. R. Evans
Keyword(s):  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Seismic Exploration ◽  
Structural Elements ◽  
Seismic Surveys ◽  
Canning Basin ◽  
Reflection Seismic ◽  
Magnetic Basement ◽  
Southern Flank

The exploration programme conducted in Exploration Permits 58 and 59 in the northeastern Canning Basin during the past three years has clarified regional structural and stratigraphic relationships. Interpretation of the combined results of field geological, high sensitivity aeromagnetic and reflection seismic surveys has delineated five major structural elements, some previously unrecognised. These are, from north to south, the Billiluna Shelf, the Betty Terrace, the Fitzroy Trough, the Crossland Platform and the Helena Platform. Sedimentary rocks from Proterozoic to Mesozoic age occur in the permits. The Phanerozoic rocks range in thickness from in excess of 15000 m in the Fitzroy Trough to a veneer of probably less than 1000 m over the Billiluna Shelf. On the Crossland Platform and the Helena Platform, up to 4000 m of Lower and Middle Palaeozoic rocks overlain by up to 1500 m of Upper Palaeozoic sediments are interpreted to be present.Whilst no wells have been drilled within the area, results of exploratory holes in adjoining permits have been used to refine the interpretations presented in this paper. The principal stratigraphic features of interest to petroleum exploration are a possible Devonian reef trend located on the junction of the Crossland and Helena Platforms and subdued structural features caused by halokinesis on the Helena Platform.Two major geological conclusions were drawn from the exploration programme to date. One is that the age of the formation of the Fitzroy Trough, at least in this part of the Canning Basin, is younger than previously postulated. The other is the presence in the northeastern part of the Canning Basin of a Proterozoic infrabasin with depths to magnetic basement comparable with measured outcrop thicknesses on the southern flank of the Kimberley Block.Future exploration plans for the region call for further seismic exploration and the drilling of medium depth wildcat tests to investigate the hydrocarbon potential of the region.

Australian states and Northern Territory acreage update at APPEA 2011

2011 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Bill Tinapple
Keyword(s):  
Shale Gas ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
Canning Basin ◽  
Northern Carnarvon Basin ◽  
Conventional Oil ◽  
Carnarvon Basin

Bill’s presentation is on behalf of the NT, Queensland, NSW, Victoria, SA and WA. Some highlights are: • NT: 24 onshore exploration applications were received in 2010 (an increase of 50 % from 2009). About 479,100 sq km of the NT is now under application, including grassroots areas. • Queensland: In 2011, a variety of exploration opportunities are being offered in basins ranging in age from Precambrian to Cretaceous. Targets include conventional oil and gas as well as shale gas. • NSW: There are now more than 800 unallocated petroleum exploration blocks, including the Darling Basin, the Tamworth Moratorium area, and the Oaklands Basin Moratorium area. • Victoria: Acreage release is proposed for the onshore Otway Basin in 2011. • SA: The CO2010 acreage release, comprising three blocks in the Cooper and Eromanga basins, closed on 10 March 2011. • WA: To coincide with the APPEA Conference, acreage has been made available for bidding from the Canning Basin, Northern Carnarvon Basin, Officer Basin and Perth Basin.

THE GEOLOGICAL AND STRUCTURAL FRAMEWORK OF THE OFFSHORE KIMBERLEY BLOCK (BROWSE BASIN) AREA, WESTERN AUSTRALIA

1971 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 64 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Halse ◽  
J. D. Hayes
Keyword(s):  
Western Australia ◽  
Sedimentary Basin ◽  
Petroleum Exploration ◽  
The South ◽  
Canning Basin ◽  
The North ◽  
Structural Framework ◽  
Block Area ◽  
Basin Area

The Offshore Kimberley Block area is mainly held under petroleum exploration permit by a group of companies of which B.O.C. of Australia Ltd. is operator. Exploration activities of the Group have shown the area to be a distinctive and separate major sedimentary basin, which it is proposed to term the Browse Basin. The basin is separated from the Bonaparte Gulf Basin in the north by the Londonderry Arch, and from the Offshore Canning Basin to the south by the Leveque Platform. It covers an area of over 60,000 square miles.

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