Australian Organic Geochemistry Database for Petroleum Exploration

Geoscience Australia's database comprises analytical results for petroleum-related samples, including source rocks, crude oils, and natural gases collected across the Australian continent. The data are produced by techniques like programmed pyrolysis, gas chromatography, and mass spectrometry, sourced from industry reports, government surveys, and open publications. It enables the typing and correlation of petroleum fluids to their source rocks.

Use Cases

• Correlating crude oils to source rocks based on biomarker and isotopic content mentioned in the description
• Mapping total petroleum systems and migration distances using geochemical typing data
• Assessing source rock maturity and depositional environment from pyrolysis and petrology data
• Characterizing natural gas families using molecular and isotopic analyses described

Strengths

• Data originates from a wide range of analytical techniques, including GC-MS and GC-TC-IRMS, as detailed in the description
• Samples are sourced from industry, government geological surveys, and open publications, providing multiple data streams
• The database supports derived products like the 'Oils of Australia' series, indicating ongoing value-add processing

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 or source bias inherent to data_gov_au collections

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia and its predecessor organisations (AGSO, BMR), state/territory geological organisations, and the petroleum industry.

Collection Method

Analytical results from physical samples, well completion reports, destructive analysis reports, and open file data from publications.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-04 10:13:58.326427; freshness should be verified

Geography

Australian continent