AUSTRALIA 2013
Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release
RELEASE AREAS W13-19 AND W13-20,
NORTH PERTH BASIN,
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
HIGHLIGHTS
BIDS CLOSE – 22 May 2014
 Adjacent to recently awarded permits
 Overlie large areas of the frontier Houtman
Sub-basin, the largest depocentre in the
offshore northern Perth Basin
 Hydrocarbon shows and paleo-oil columns
indicate presence of mature source rocks,
including the Hovea Member of the
Kockatea Shale
 Potential plays within Triassic to Middle
Jurassic strata
 Predominantly deep water, 70 – 2500 m
Figure 1 Location of the 2013 Release Areas in the
North Perth Basin
 Special Notices apply, refer to Guidance
Notes
Release Areas W13-19 and W13-20 are located in the offshore North Perth Basin, covering large areas of the Houtman
and Abrolhos sub-basins, and parts of the Gascoyne and Zeewyck sub-basins. A number of wells within the Release
Areas have hydrocarbon shows, including Houtman 1, Livet 1, Morangie 1 and Wittecarra 1.
The northern Perth Basin formed through continental extension between the southwestern margin of Australia and
Greater India during the Paleozoic to Mesozoic. The Abrolhos Sub-basin contains a Permian–Cretaceous sedimentary
section up to 6000 m thick, the Houtman Sub-basin, located farther basinward, is a predominantly Jurassic–Cretaceous
depocentre. The Early Triassic Hovea Member of the Kockatea Shale provides the best potential source rock in the
Release Areas, with a range of other potential source rocks present within the Triassic–Jurassic succession. PermoTriassic tilted fault blocks provide structural traps in the Abrolhos Sub-basin, with tilted fault blocks or horsts and faulted
anticlines within the Jurassic section providing potential exploration targets in the Houtman Sub-basin.
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Figure 2 Structural setting of the northern Perth Basin, showing petroleum fields and discoveries, Late Permian faults,
the location of seismic cross-sections and the 2013 Release Areas (fault polygons sourced from Enterprise Oil
Exploration Ltd and Nippon Oil Exploration [Perth Basin] Ltd, 1994a; Gorter at al, 2004; Roc Oil, pers. comm.; GSWA
pers. comm.)
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Figure 3 Stratigraphy and hydrocarbon discoveries of the offshore northern Perth Basin, based on the Offshore Northern
Perth Basin Biozonation and Stratigraphy Chart (Jones et al, 2012). Geological Time Scale after Gradstein et al (2012)
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Figure 4 Geoscience Australia seismic line 310/44 and line HB01/102 through the northern Perth Basin. Location of lines
are shown in Figure 2
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Figure 5 Seismic line WA91/40a through the northern Perth Basin. Location of line is shown in Figure 2
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PETROLEUM SYSTEMS ELEMENTS
North Perth Basin
Sources
 Lower Triassic Hovea Member of the Kockatea Shale, the main source rock in northern Perth Basin
(oil- and gas-prone)
 Early to Mid–Triassic Woodada Sequence in the outer Abrolhos Sub-basin
 Early to Mid–Jurassic Cattamarra Coal Measures and Cadda Formation; mature in the Houtman Subbasin, good gas and minor liquid potential
 Middle-Upper Jurassic Yarragadee Sequence; modelled to be within the early oil window in the
Houtman Sub-basin.
Reservoirs





Seals
 Regional seal provided by the Lower Triassic Kockatea Shale
 Post-Kockatea succession potential seals include the Cadda Formation
 Intraformational shales within the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic Eneabba, Early to Mid–Jurassic
Cattamarra and Mid to Late–Jurassic Yarragadee successions.
Traps
 Permian-Triassic sandstone reservoirs within tilted fault and horst blocks structural traps fault
controlled anticlines in inboard areas
 Triassic–Jurassic faulted roll-over anticlines
 Potential for four-way-dip closure within the Yalthoo Trough (Figure 4b), this relay ramp was previously
identified by Smith and Cowley (1987) and Purcell and Fisher (1997) as a Permian–Triassic
depocentre (Jones et al. (2011).
 Potential post-rift stratigraphic pinch-out plays.
Permian Irwin River Sandstone and Dongara Sandstone
Triassic Lesueur Sandstone; porosities around 20%
Early to Mid–Jurassic Cattamarra Coal Measures
Potential reservoirs within the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic Eneabba and Yarragadee formations
Jurassic Yarragadee Formation sandstone porosities range up to 30%, decreasing with depth (Gorter
et al, 2004).
INFRASTRUCTURE AND MARKETS
There is no existing infrastructure in this part of the northern Perth Basin, however the port of Geraldton, and the
Dampier to Bunbury pipeline, are in close proximity.
CRITICAL RISKS
Major risks include effectiveness of seals, trap breach and preservation of palaeo-accumulations. Such risks may be
offset by outboard increase of sediment thickness offering greater seal potential and limiting trap breach potential.
DATA SETS
For the Wells Data Listing go to
http://www.petroleum-acreage.gov.au/2013/support/geo.html
For the Seismic Surveys Listing go to
http://www.ga.gov.au/energy/projects/acreage-release-and-promotion/2013.html - data-packages
AUSTRALIA 2013
Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release
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GEOSCIENCE AUSTRALIA PRODUCTS
Regional Geology and Seismic
 Tectonic and Stratigraphic History of the Perth Basin, 2003. GEOCAT 61374
 New Exploration Opportunities in the Offshore Northern Perth Basin, 2011. GEOCAT 71463
 Offshore Northern Perth Basin Well Folio, 2011. GEOCAT 71568
 Geological Cross-section of the north Perth Basin, 1991. GEOCAT 14387
 Velocity Analysis and Depth Conversion in the Offshore Northern Perth Basin, 2011. GEOCAT 73001
Stratigraphy
 Offshore Northern Perth Basin Biozonation and Stratigraphy Chart 38, 2013. GEOCAT 75819
Petroleum Systems and Accumulations
 Sources for gas and oil in the Perth Basin, 2000. GEOCAT 35515
 Australian Petroleum Accumulations Report. Perth Basin, Western Australia, 1994. GEOCAT 37057
 Oils of Western Australia II: Regional petroleum geochemistry and correlation of crude oils and condensates from
Western Australia and Papua New Guinea, 2005. Geoscience Australia and GeoMark Research. GEOCAT 37512
Contact Geoscience Australia’s Sales Centre for more information or to order these reports or products, phone
61 (0)2 6249 9966, email sales@ga.gov.au
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KEY REFERENCES
BUSWELL, A.J., POWELL, W.D. AND SCHOLEFIELD, T., 2004—The northern Perth Basin – From marginally
prospective for gas to highly prospective for both oil and gas. The APPEA Journal, 44, 181–199.
CROSTELLA.A. AND BACKHOUSE, J., 2001—Geology and petroleum potential of the Abrolhos Sub-basin, Western
Australia, Western Australia Geological Survey, Report 75, 57p.
ENTERPRISE OIL EXPLORATION LTD. AND NIPPON OIL EXPLORATION (PERTH BASIN) LTD., 1994a—Plum MSS
final report. Part E. geo-physical interpretation, unpublished.
GORTER, J.D., HEARTY, D.J. AND BOND, A.J., 2004—Jurassic petroleum systems in the Houtman Sub-basin,
northwestern offshore Perth Basin, Western Australia: a frontier petroleum province on the doorstep? The APPEA
Journal, 44(1), 13–57.
GORTER, J.D., NICOLL, R.S., METCALFE, I., WILLINK, R.J. AND FERDINANDO, D., 2009—The Permian-Triassic
boundary in western Australia: evidence from the Bonaparte and northern Perth basins: exploration implications. The
APPEA Journal, 49, 311–336.
GRADSTEIN, F.M., OGG, J.G., SCHMITZ, M.D. AND OGG, G.M. (EDITORS), 2012—The Geologic Time Scale 2012;
Volumes 1 & 2. Elsevier BV, 1144pp.
GRICE, K., SUMMONS, R.E., GROSJEAN, E., TWITCHETT, R.J., DUNNING, W., WANG, S.X. AND BOTTCHER, M.E.,
2005—Depositional conditions of the northern onshore Perth Basin (basal Triassic). The APPEA Journal, 45, 263–274.
GROSJEAN, E., BOREHAM, C.J., JONES, A.T. AND KENNARD, J.M., 2012—A reassessment of the petroleum
systems in the offshore North Perth Basin. In: 16th Australian Organic Geochemistry Conference Program and Abstracts,
7-10 December 2010, Canberra, ACT.
HALL, L., HACKNEY, R. AND JOHNSTON, S., 2012—Understanding Australia’s southwest margin. AusGeoNews, 105,
3–8.
JONES, A.T., JORGENSEN, D., HACKNEY, R. AND NICHOLSON, C., 2011—Hydrocarbon potential of the offshore
northern Perth Basin. Aus Geo News, 103, 3–8.
JONES, A.T., KELMANN, A.P, KENNARD, J.M., LE POIDEVIN, S., MANTLE, D.J. AND MORY A.J., 2012—[Web page]
Offshore Northern Perth Basin, Biozonation and Stratigraphy, 2012, Chart 38. Geoscience Australia.
JONES, A.T., KENNARD, J.M., NICHOLSON, C.J., BERNARDEL, G., MANTLE, D., GROSJEAN, E., BOREHAM, C.,
JORGENSEN, D.C. AND ROBERTSON, D., 2011—New exploration opportunities in the offshore northern Perth Basin.
The APPEA Journal 51, 45–78.
JONES, N.T. AND HALL, A.D., 2002—The Cliff Head Oil Discovery – Offshore Perth Basin. In: Keep, M. and Moss, S.L.
(Editors) The Sedimentary Basins of Western Australia 3: Proceedings of the Petroleum exploration Society of Australia
Symposium, Perth, 901–909.
KEMPTON, R., GONG, S., KENNARD, J., VOLK, H., MILLS, D., EADINGTON, P. AND LIU, K., 2011—Detection of
palaeo-oil columns in the offshore Northern Perth Basin: extension of the effective Permo-Triassic charge system. The
APPEA Journal, 51, 377–396.
LANGHI, L., ZHANG, Y., NICHOLSON, C., BERNARDEL, G., ROLLET, N., SCHAUBS, P., KEMPTON, R. AND
KENNARD, J., 2012—Geomechanical modelling of trap integrity in the northern offshore Perth Basin. CSIRO Earth
Science & Resource Engineering. Open File Report EP12425.
MARSHALL, J.F., LEE, C.S., RAMSAY, D.C. AND MOORE, A.M.G., 1989—Tectonic controls on sedimentation and
maturation in the offshore north Perth Basin. The APEA Journal, 29, 450–465.
MORY, A.J. AND IASKY, R.P., 1996—Stratigraphy and structure of the onshore northern Perth Basin Western Australia,
Geological Survey of Western Australia. Report, 46, 102 p.
NICHOLSON, C., LANGHI, L., ZHANG, Y., ROLLET, N., BERNARDEL, G., KEMPTON, R. AND KENNARD, J., 2012—
Reducing exploration risk in the offshore northern Perth Basin. AusGeoNews, 105, 14–19.
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PURCELL, P.G. AND FISHER, R.W., 1997—Livet 1 well completion report, Seafield Resources Plc, unpublished report.
ROBERTSON, D., JONES, A. AND MANTLE, D., 2011—New insights into the stratigraphy and basin evolution of the
Houtman Sub-basin, offshore north Perth Basin, from a detailed sequence stratigraphic study. The APPEA Journal 51.
Poster Presentation
SMITH, G.C. AMD COWLEY, R.G., 1987—The tectono-stratigraphy and petroleum potential of the northern Abrolhos
Sub-basin, Western Australia. The APPEA Journal, 27(1), 112–135.
THOMAS, B.M. AND BARBER, C.J., 2004—A re-evaluation of the hydrocarbon habitat of the northern Perth Basin. The
APPEA Journal, 44, 13–57.
VOLK, H., BOREHAM, C.J. KEMPTON, R.H. AND GEORGE, S.C., 2004—Geochemical and compound specific isotopic
characterisation of fluid inclusion oils from the offshore Perth Basin, Western Australia: implications or recognising
effective oil source rocks. The APPEA Journal, 44, 223–239.
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