New Exploration Opportunities in the Offshore Northern Perth Basin

Release Area W11-18 in the offshore northern Perth Basin covers parts of the Abrolhos, Houtman and Vlaming sub-basins and the Beagle and Turtle Dove ridges. Geoscience Australia assessed the petroleum prospectivity, synthesizing data from fourteen new field wildcat wells drilled since 2001 and interpreting new regional 2D seismic data from 2008-2009. The assessment includes a refined tectono-stratigraphic model and identifies three petroleum discoveries within the area.

Use Cases

• Evaluate petroleum prospectivity based on the synthesis of well data and seismic interpretation.
• Model basin evolution and tectono-stratigraphy based on the refined geological model.
• Assess the extent of proven petroleum systems based on evidence of source rock, oil stain, and fluid inclusion sampling.
• Identify exploration plays based on the range of plays in water depths predominantly less than 200 meters.

Strengths

• Assessment includes data from fourteen new field wildcat wells drilled since the 2001 Cliff Head discovery.
• Interpretation incorporates new regional 2D seismic data acquired during a 2008-2009 survey.
• Area includes three documented petroleum discoveries (Dunsborough-1, Frankland-1, Perseverance-1).

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing on a single Australian basin.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia (GA) as part of the Australian Government's Offshore Energy Security Program.

Collection Method

Assessment includes synthesis of well data and interpretation of seismic surveys.

Time Range

Well data from post-2001; seismic data from 2008-2009.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-23 01:03:44.734865; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Offshore Northern Perth Basin, specifically Release Area W11-18 covering parts of the Abrolhos, Houtman, and Vlaming sub-basins.