Publicly available data was compiled to provide a common information base for resource development, environmental and regulatory decisions in the north Bowen Basin. This data guide gives an example of how these data can be used to create the components of a workflow to identify unconventional hydrocarbon resource opportunities. The data guide is designed to support the data package that provide insights on unconventional hydrocarbon resources in the north Bowen Basin.
The unconventional hydrocarbon assessment for the north Bowen Basin includes tight gas, shale resources (shale oil and gas) and coal seam gas (CSG) for 4 geological intervals, termed plays – these intervals have been defined by Wainman et al. (2023). The assessment captures data from well completion reports and government data sources, including the Bowen and Surat Basins Regional Structural Framework Study (SRK Consulting, 2008), Rangal Supermodel 2015: Rangal-Baralaba-Bandanna Coal Measures in the Bowen and Galilee Basins (Sliwa et al., 2017), Queensland Petroleum Exploration Database (QPED) from the Geological Survey of Queensland (GSQ) Open Data Portal (2020a), Coal Maturity Trends within the Bowen Basin (McKillop, 2016), and Rapid regional prioritisation for tight and shale gas potential of eastern and northern Australian basins (Hall et al., 2018) along with the scientific literature to inform the components required for unconventional hydrocarbons to be present. These datasets were used to map out gross depositional environments and their geological properties relevant for unconventional hydrocarbon assessments.
The data are compiled at a point in time to inform decisions on resource development activities. The data guide outlines the play-based workflow for assessing unconventional hydrocarbon resource prospectivity. Each of the elements required for a prospective unconventional hydrocarbon system is explained and mapped. These data were merged and spatially multiplied to show the relative assessment of unconventional hydrocarbon prospectivity across the basin, at both the play interval and basin scale. As an example of assessments contained within the data package, this data guide showcases the CSG prospectivity of the Rewan–Blackwater Play interval.
