<diThe Permian and Triassic Pedirka and Simpson basins in central Australia have proven petroleum potential with a non-commercial oil discovery in the Poolowanna Trough and several wells showing evidence for residual oil columns. However, these basins remain underexplored with only 42 wells drilled and relatively sparse 2D seismic coverage. Consequently, our knowledge of the structural and stratigraphic framework of the basins continues to grow as new data sets are acquired. Understanding the area’s resource potential continues to improve as new insights are gained into the presence and effectiveness of the main risk elements (reservoir, seal, hydrocarbon charge and trapping mechanisms) associated with a variety of sub-surface resources.
Geoscience Australia, the Northern Territory Geological Survey, and the South Australian Department of Energy and Mining are collaborating on the Australia’s Future Energy Resources project under the Exploring for the Future program. One of the aims of this collaborative project is to assess the resource potential for conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons and carbon capture and storage (CCS) resources in the Pedirka, Simpson and western Eromanga basins. A play-based exploration approach is being used to systematically evaluate the key risk elements for each regional reservoir-seal interval (i.e. (play intervals) through the analysis of drilling results and spatial data to map sweet spots. These assessments aim to reduce exploration uncertainties by providing spatially-enabled assessments of the energy resources and CCS potential of the region.
A key requirement for undertaking play-based resource assessments is to develop a chronostratigraphic geological framework that defines the main regional play intervals. Regional play schemes have been developed and applied over several decades for petroleum explorers in Western Australia, but have not yet become readily available for explorers in central and eastern Australian onshore basins. This paper presents a chronostratigraphic play scheme that is being applied to resource assessments in the Pedirka and Simpson basins. The scheme includes two Triassic play intervals correlating to the Peera Peera and Walkandi formations, and three Permian play intervals correlating to the Purni Formation and the Crown Point Formation.
This Abstract was submitted/presented to the 2022 Central Australian Basins Symposium IV (CABS) 29-30 August (https://agentur.eventsair.com/cabsiv/)
