Cooper Basin Regional Petroleum Systems Model

Brief description

The Cooper Basin is an upper Carboniferous-Middle Triassic intracratonic basin in northeastern South Australia and southwestern Queensland (Gravestock et al., 1998; Draper, 2002; McKellar, 2013; Carr et al., 2016; Hall et al., 2015a). The basin is Australia's premier onshore hydrocarbon producing province and is nationally significant in providing gas to the eastern Australian gas market. The basin also hosts a range of unconventional gas play types within the Permian Gidgealpa Group, including basin-centred gas and tight gas accumulations, deep dry coal gas associated with the Patchawarra and Toolachee formations, the Murteree and Roseneath shale gas plays and deep coal seam gas in the Weena Trough (e.g. Goldstein et al., 2012; Menpes et al., 2013; Greenstreet, 2015). The principal source rocks for these plays are the Permian coals and coaly shales of the Gidgealpa Group (Boreham & Hill, 1998; Deighton et al., 2003; Hall et al., 2016a). Mapping the petroleum generation potential of these source rocks is critical for understanding the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the basin. Geoscience Australia, in conjunction with the Department of State Development, South Australia and the Geological Survey of Queensland, have recently released a series of studies reviewing the distribution, type, quality, maturity and generation potential of the Cooper Basin source rocks (Hall et al., 2015a; 2016a; 2016b, 2016c; 2016d). Petroleum systems models, incorporating new Cooper Basin kinetics (Mahlstedt et al., 2015), highlight the variability in burial, thermal and hydrocarbon generation histories for each source rock across the basin (Hall et al., 2016a). A Geoscience Australia record 'Cooper Basin Petroleum Systems Analysis: Regional Hydrocarbon Prospectivity of the Cooper Basin, Part 3' providing full documentation of the model input data, workflow and results is currently in press. This work provides important insights into the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the basin (Hall et al., 2015b; Kuske et al., 2015). This product contains the working Cooper Basin Trinity-Genesis-KinEx petroleum systems model used to generate the results presented in these studies. This includes maps describing thickness, TOC and original HI for the following Permian source intervals: Toolachee Fm coals and coaly shales Daralingie Fm coals and coaly shales Roseneath Shale Epsilon Fm coals and coaly shales Murteree Shale Patchawarra Fm coals and coaly shales This model is designed for use as a regional scale hydrocarbon prospectivity screening tool. Model resolution is not high enough for this product to be used for sub-basin to prospect scale analysis, without further modification. However, the model provides a regional framework, into which more detailed prospect scale data may be embedded. The systematic workflow applied demonstrates the importance of integrated geochemical and petroleum systems modelling studies as a predictive tool for understanding the petroleum resource potential of Australia's sedimentary basins.

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Maintenance and Update Frequency: asNeeded

Statement: The input datasets and technical work flows used to construct this model are described in detail in the following report: Hall, L.S., Palu, T.J., Boreham, C.J., Edwards, D.S., Hill, A.J. & Troup, A. 2016b. Petroleum Systems Modelling of Cooper Basin: Regional Hydrocarbon Prospectivity of the Cooper Basin, Part 3. Record 2016/in prep. Geoscience Australia, Canberra