The first well drilled (Tarbat 1) was plugged and abandoned over the Hutton Sandstone after an on-depth, mechanically sound DST flowed 1080 BWPD 1% oil. Tarbat 2 was drilled 7 years later, the Hutton DST flowed 2037 BOPD and no water. This talk discusses how a valid DST test can be misleading and encourages a discussion regarding a Surat basin oil project where a re-evaluation of seismic and exploration well’s DSTs has justified a 3-D seismic which has changed the area's prospectivity.
South Australia has taken the lead nationally in enabling exploration licences for natural hydrogen. On 11 February 2021 the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Regulations 2013 were amended to declare hydrogen, hydrogen compounds and by-products from hydrogen production regulated substances under the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 2000 (PGE Act). Companies are now able to apply to explore for natural hydrogen via a Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) and the transmission of hydrogen or compounds of hydrogen are now permissible under the transmission pipeline licencing provisions of the PGE Act. The maximum area of a PEL is 10,000 square kilometres so they provide a large acreage position for explorers. PEL applicants need to provide evidence of their technical and financial capacity as well as a 5-year work program which could include field sampling, geophysical surveys (e.g., aeromagnetics, gravity, seismic and MT) and exploration drilling to evaluate the prospectivity of the licence for natural hydrogen. Since February 2021, seven companies have lodged 35 applications for petroleum exploration licences (PELs), targeting natural hydrogen. The first of these licences (PEL 687) over Kangaroo Island and southern Yorke Peninsula was granted to Gold Hydrogen Pty Ltd on 22 July 2021. As well as issuing exploration licences, a key role of the South Australian Department for Energy and Mining is to provide easy access to comprehensive geoscientific data submitted by mineral and petroleum explorers and departmental geoscientists since the State was founded in 1836. Access to old 1920s and 1930s reports, together with modern geophysical and well data has underpinned the current interest in hydrogen exploration. Why the interest? 50-80% hydrogen content was measured in 1931 by the Mines Department in gas samples from wells on Kangaroo Island, Yorke Peninsula and the Otway Basin, potential evidence that the natural formation of hydrogen has occurred. Iron-rich cratons and uranium-rich basement (also a target for geothermal energy explorers) occur in the Archaean-Mesoproterozoic Gawler Craton, Curnamona and Musgrave provinces which are in places fractured and seismically active with deep-seated faults. Sedimentary cover ranges from Neoproterozoic-Recent in age, with thick clastic, carbonate and coal measure successions in hydrocarbon prospective basins and, in places, occurrences of mafic intrusives and extrusives, iron stones, salt and anhydrite which could also be potential sources of natural hydrogen.
Two new programs at Geoscience Australia are providing trusted, high-quality science to support decision making and the Australian resources industry. The Trusted Environmental and Geological Information program will provide baseline precompetitive data in the Cooper, Adavale, north Bowen and Galilee basin regions. A repository of information is being developed in collaboration with CSIRO, including new geological and environmental assessments, to accelerate development in the sectors of petroleum, mineral, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage, while simultaneously providing opportunities to understand the potential hazards, risk and impacts of these resources being developed. The Data Driven Discoveries program is combining new and old data to better understand the underexplored Adavale Basin in central-western Queensland. The program will undertake chemical composition analyses to support the correlation of geological layers, collate and reprocess historical seismic data, acquire new seismic reflection data, and undertake stratigraphic research drilling to provide a more detailed understanding of basin architecture and the resource potential of the Adavale Basin. An overview of the Trusted Environmental and Geological Information and Data Driven Discoveries programs, initial results, and planned acquisition, will show how these complementary programs will contribute to streamlined regulation and approval processes, the low emissions agenda, and responsible resource development in key basins regions across Australia.
In its Climate Transition Strategy, the Queensland Government has set a zero net emission target by 2050, with an interim target for at least a 30% reduction in emissions on 2005 levels by 2030. QLD’s total fugitive emissions however have increased by 79% from 2005 to 2016, mainly due to the expansion in the state’s coal and gas extractive industries. Fugitive emissions are inherently difficult to quantify since they are often scattered over large areas. Drones specialised in the detection and measurements of methane concentrations can be used to identify point source of fugitive emissions. However, concentrations are just a snapshot in space/time and to be able to quantify the actual emissions, the underlying methane flux (i.e., the amount of methane per time unit over a specific area) is required. In this talk, we are going to present details on the data acquisition for fugitive methane emissions using drones. First attempts at estimating the underlying fluxes will be presented and a controlled methane release experiment, required for calibration and validation purposes, is discussed.
Unconventional oil and gas developments may require considering the potential hydrological impacts of faults on near-surface groundwater assets. It is vital that faults are represented appropriately. There are several examples where faults have been invoked as part of “Straw Man” arguments to oppose development (Currell et. al. 2017 and Iverach et. al. 2020). The processes of dewatering and hydraulic fracture stimulation may generate preferential pathways for flow that impact aquifers and groundwater dependant ecosystems. As part of this, a clear framework for the assessment of the impact of faults has been provided in Murray and Power 2021. This study presents three distinct end-member geological scenarios and outlines methods for characterising faultrelated groundwater flow within a risk assessment context. 1) Regional aquitard isolates aquifer from development. Low risk of leakage across the aquitard because there are no faults, or the faults have displacements less than the thickness of the aquitard. 2) Region-wide aquitard is not present, the development and the groundwater assets are within the same groundwater system. CSG development may cause pressure to propagate parallel to the strike and dip of the fault in the fault damage zones. 3) Regional aquitard(s) are present, but larger displacement faults breach the aquitards, allowing for possible combinations of across-fault connections between the different aquifers, and between aquifers and the coal seams. In this scenario, potential flow pathways between the groundwater and the development need to be characterised using Allan Maps (fault plane profiles).
Comet Ridge has established a very large acreage position at the Mahalo Gas Hub in the southern Bowen Basin which comprises the Mahalo Gas Project (joint venture project with Santos) and the 100% owned and operated permits Mahalo North, Mahalo East and Mahalo Far-East. This area has the potential to be a major east coast gas production hub with commercial gas rates demonstrated, gas reserves independently certified, and proximity to infrastructure and major Gladstone domestic and export LNG markets. In this presentation, Tor and Melanie and will provide an overview of tenure acquisition, geoscience data integration, and recent appraisal results for Comet Ridge 100% owned and operated Mahalo Hub Blocks.
A number of scenarios attempt to map out the future of our energy mix. Some of these are normative, they start in 2050 with ‘net zero’ and work backwards, and some are exploratory, they start with today’s trends and see where we end up. There’s increasingly a dissonance between the two sets. There’s a dissonance too between rhetorical claims and on-the-ground energy consumption. And now we have a terrible Russia-Ukraine tragedy and we are reminded that energy security probably trumps all. Prof. Garnett’s presentation will roam around the space of energy futures and try (and fail) to make sense of things!
Moonie, Australia’s first commercial oil field, was discovered in 1961 and 60 years hence, is on track to be Australia’s first carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) project. Carbon utilisation involves enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technology, with the injection of CO2 (CO2-EOR) into the Precipice Sandstone primary oil reservoir. Since acquiring Moonie in late 2016, Bridgeport has completed core and PVT analyses and reservoir modelling studies, which indicate that the field is an excellent candidate for CO2-EOR. Successful history matching of the field as part of reservoir simulation modelling of the cumulative 25 mmbbls of historic production provides confidence of the estimate of the original oil in-place (OOIP). Further technical review to estimate the current and ultimate (post-CCUS) residual oil saturations will inform the likely EOR efficiency. This is an important parameter for predicting expected tertiary oil recoveries from the injection of CO2 into the Precipice Sandstone. A supply of anthropogenic CO2 is expected to be sourced from a post carbon capture (PCC) facility to be installed at the nearby Millmerran coal-fired power station. The initial pilot project at Moonie involves the injection of at least 60,000 tonnes/annum into an existing Moonie oil well with enhanced oil production from an encompassing array of up to 6 production wells. In addition, the pilot will demonstrate that significant volumes of CO2 can be stored safely in Moonie’s secure, structural trap.
Although being one of the longest producing CSG basins in Australia, there has been little recent appraisal work in the North Bowen Basin. The Northern Bowen has the largest uncontracted gas resource on the east coast of Australia and if developed, would provide sufficient volumes to meet not only domestic gas requirements but also potential back fill for existing LNG plants in to the future. Blue Energy will provide an overview of their ongoing Sapphire appraisal program near Moranbah and their view on the future of the basin.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) storage is a vital part of the energy transition to low emissions. The Jurassic age Precipice Sandstone of the Surat Basin in Queensland, Australia, has been investigated as a suitable reservoir for CO2 storage. The overlying Evergreen Formation is a thick, interbedded mudstone and sandstone seal, and regarded a regional aquitard. Wells have been drilled for feasibility studies, initially in CTSCo’s Glenhaven region, near Wandoan, and recently in the southern Surat Basin near the town of Moonie. Since the Precipice Sandstone is also a Great Artesian Basin aquifer, the southern region with deeper groundwater unsuitable for stock use, and minimal to stagnant flow, is likely a more suitable site. The University of Queensland has undertaken research in both potential storage regions, and more broadly across the basin, including the separate Moonie oil field. This presentation will focus on core characterisation, experimental and modelled geochemical CO2-water-rock reactions and their impacts on water quality, porosity and permeability, and the effects of gas stream impurities SOx, NOx and O2. In addition, it may touch on field studies to assess existing hydrochemistry, water quality and native greenhouse gases in the Precipice Sandstone, and in the Hutton Sandstone that overlies the Evergreen Formation.
State Gas was formed in 2017 to develop an historic shallow gas resource at PL-231 Reid’s Dome in the Denison Trough. The company used simultaneous inversion to define the extent of the gas and identify further exploration targets. Between 2018 – 2020, State Gas tested the coal-seam gas potential of the Reid’s Dome Beds in PL-231 and subsequently tested the Bandanna Coal measures in the newly awarded ATP-2062. In September 2021, State Gas entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Rockminsolutions Pty Ltd to evaluate the Buckland Tableland Volcanics within EPM-27596 which partially overlies ATP-2062. The permits contain a significant area with potential for carbon mineralisation using the "CarbFix" process which can permanently store CO2 removed from produced gas or from the atmosphere.
The Queensland resources industry will be increasingly affected by global trends, such as decarbonisation, corporate social responsibility, emerging innovations and the rise of the Indo-Pacific region. While these trends create challenges for the resources industry, they present greater opportunities for transformation, growth and diversification. A plan to navigate these trends is critical, and that is why the Queensland Government has committed to delivering a Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan (QRIDP). The QRIDP outlines a 30-year vision for Queensland’s resources industry – petroleum and gas, coal and minerals sectors – to respond to these emerging global trends. The QRIDP’s vision is for ‘a resilient, responsible and sustainable Queensland resources industry that grows as it transforms.’ A range of actions for government and industry to undertake over the coming years to realise this shared vision is included in the QRIDP in its six key focus areas. The QRIDP has been informed through extensive stakeholder consultation and expert advice, with a draft QRIDP released for feedback in November 2021. Feedback received on the draft is being considered by the Department of Resources and a final QRIDP is expected to be released by mid-2022.
