New Exploration Opportunities in the Offshore Northern Perth Basin: Release Area W11-18

Geoscience Australia assessed the petroleum prospectivity of Release Area W11-18 in the offshore northern Perth Basin. The assessment synthesizes data from fourteen new field wildcat wells drilled since 2001 and interprets new regional 2D seismic data from a 2008-2009 survey. It describes a refined tectono-stratigraphic model and identifies multiple petroleum discoveries and plays.

Use Cases

• Evaluate petroleum prospectivity based on the refined tectono-stratigraphic model for the offshore basin.
• Analyze basin evolution and play types using interpretations of regional 2D seismic data.
• Assess the extent of proven petroleum systems based on source rock, oil stain, and fluid inclusion sampling data.
• Identify potential drilling targets by studying the three documented petroleum discoveries within the release area.

Strengths

• Assessment includes synthesis of data from fourteen new field wildcat wells drilled since 2001.
• Interpretation is based on new regional 2D seismic data acquired during a dedicated 2008-2009 survey.
• The release area is directly adjacent to the Cliff Head oil field, which has been in production since 2006.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data freshness should be verified despite the last updated date of 2026-06-05.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia (GA) via the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Assessment conducted as part of the Australian Government's Offshore Energy Security Program, synthesizing well data and interpreting seismic surveys.

Time Range

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

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-05 05:52:20.880531; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Offshore northern Perth Basin, specifically Release Area W11-18 covering parts of the Abrolhos, Houtman and Vlaming sub-basins and the Beagle and Turtle Dove ridges.