Onshore Western Australia
Earlier this year, Greenpower commissioned a study that identified coal seam gas (CSG) prospects in the northern part of its EP 447 tenement, located in the Perth Basin.
The study identified the Charbon area, which covers approximately 50 square kilometres and is 800-2,000 metres deep, to contain a CSG resource of approximately 530 billion cubic feet (Bcf). The company is undertaking an exploration program in the area.
Also in the Perth Basin, a joint venture between Latent Petroleum, Alcoa and Transerv Energy is undertaking a tight gas drilling program within the Warro Gas Field.
While the Warro Gas Field was discovered in 1976 and is known to contain significant quantities of natural gas, it is only with advances in gas recovery technology and increased demand for natural gas, that the project has become economically viable.
In addition, the Western Australian Government recently released petroleum acreage in the onshore Canning Basin, which has a geological structure similar to that of more than 130 giant oil and gas fields worldwide according to Western Australian Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore.
“The Canning Basin may be the least explored of its type, so its potential is significant,”? he said.
Offshore New South Wales
In September, Advent Energy and Bounty Oil and Gas received a report from the CSIRO providing independent reporting of direct hydrocarbon indicators (DHI) in PEP 11, located in the offshore Sydney Basin.
These features are considered prime indicators for the occurrence of hydrocarbons and Advent believes that these DHI are highly encouraging for the PEP 11 prospect.
Advent has also made separate submissions to the Federal Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts to carry out a geophysical site survey and to gain approval to drill a well.
Northern Territory potential
Central Petroleum’s Pedirka Basin acreage contains between 34 and 70 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of prospective recoverable CSG resources, according to a report released by Mulready Consulting Service in April this year.
Central has said that it will continue with an exploration program to drill five fully cored CSG wells with a contingent additional five CSG wells in the Pedirka Basin.
Central has an interest in several permits in the Pedirka Basin, including EP 93, EP 105, EP 106, EP 107 and PELA 77.
Also in the Northern Territory, Falcon Oil & Gas commissioned Ryder Scott to complete a study that found Falcon’s Beetaloo Basin property, covering the majority of the basin at approximately 28,200 sq km, may contain up to 64 Tcf of gas.
The Beetaloo Basin, part of the larger MacArthur Basin, is located approximately 600 km south of Darwin.
Victoria onshore tight gas
Lakes Oil is drilling for tight gas in PRL 2 of the onshore Gippsland Basin, Victoria. An independent assessment of the tenement has estimated an ultimate gas recovery potential of 211-394 Bcf of gas.
The company has said that gas from the Wombat tight gas field contains virtually no carbon dioxide, unlike offshore Gippsland gas that can contain up to 12 per cent carbon dioxide before burning.
Tasmania exploration
Empire Energy is drilling for gas in central Tasmania, near Mt Thunderbolt.
Empire is assessing eight potential reservoir formations. These include Triassic and Permian freshwater sandstones and associated coal measures that the company says are similar to producing reservoirs in the Cooper Basin, South Australia.
Chief Executive Officer of Empire Malcolm Bendall stated “We may potentially discover gas to fill the existing Bass Strait pipeline built by Duke Energy and provide east Australia and Tasmania with a new source of oil and gas.”
Queensland – the Galilee
A number of companies are exploring the Galilee Basin, located to the west of the northern Bowen Basin, for CSG.
These include Comet Ridge, Blue Energy, AGL Energy and Eastern Corporation. Other companies, such as Exoma Energy and WestSide Corporation, have also recently acquired interests in the area.
WestSide Chief Executive Officer Simon Mewing said “The Galilee Basin is considered by many to be Queensland’s new frontier for CSG exploration.”?
South Australian CSG
Strike Oil has predicted that its southern Cooper Basin permit PEL 96, contains reserves of 8-20 Tcf of prospective CSG resources.
“We believe the project has the potential to open up the vast CSG potential of the Cooper Basin, Australia’s premier onshore conventional oil and gas production region, which also has extensive gassy coal seams,”? Strike Oil Managing Director Simon Ashton said.
In addition, September saw South Australian Government approve two licences to explore for CSG in the Cooper Basin. The licences were awarded to a joint venture of AGL Energy and Innamincka Petroleum.