Gippsland Basin Hydrocarbon Geochemistry and Reserves Overview

16.5 trillion cubic feet of gas and over 5 billion barrels of liquid hydrocarbons were discovered in Australia's Gippsland Basin by 2012. This geochemical analysis, presented at the 2015 AAPG/SEG conference, investigates multiple petroleum source rocks and migration pathways for these Cretaceous-Paleogene reservoirs.

Use Cases

• Correlate geochemical fingerprints of reservoir fluids to specific source rock units like the Halibut Subgroup or Golden Beach Subgroup
• Analyze molecular and carbon isotopic signatures to distinguish terrestrial from marginal marine hydrocarbon sources
• Model petroleum systems using data on Estimated Ultimate Recovery for gas, oil, condensate, and LPG
• Investigate source rock affinity for fields like Kingfish, Halibut, and Mackerel overlying the Central Deep

Strengths

• Quantifies total discovered resources: 16.5 TCF gas and 5,163 MMbbl liquids (oil, condensate, LPG)
• Analysis spans 50 years of exploration and production history since the 1965 Barracouta-1 discovery
• Identifies specific geological formations and biozones (e.g., F. longus, N. senectus, T. lilliei) for source correlation

Limitations

• Core data tables, column definitions, and sample records are unavailable
• Resource estimates are current only as of end-2012, lacking recent updates
• Findings are presented in summary HTML/PDF format, not as a structured, queryable database

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Geochemical fingerprinting and analysis of reservoir fluids, presented at AAPG/SEG 2015 International Conference & Exhibition

Time Range

Covers exploration history from 1965 to 2012

Freshness

null

Geography

Gippsland Basin, Australia