Australian Onshore Petroleum Exploration History and Potential, 2013

Australia's search for petroleum has shifted from offshore Mesozoic basins, which hold over 90% of conventional oil and gas, back to onshore Paleozoic and Proterozoic rocks for shale and tight gas potential. The onshore exploration license area nearly doubled from 2010 to 2012, with international companies joining local explorers in new assessments. This extended abstract and presentation from the 2013 APPEA Conference was prepared by Geoscience Australia and partners.

Use Cases

• Analyzing historical shifts in Australian petroleum exploration focus based on the timeline from onshore to offshore and back.
• Studying the geological potential of specific Australian basins mentioned, such as the Amadeus and Canning Basins.
• Researching industry activity trends based on the reported near-doubling of onshore exploration license area from 2010 to 2012.

Strengths

• Provides a specific historical timeline of exploration, including key discoveries like Mereenie (1960s) and Blina (early 1980s).
• Cites a concrete industry trend: the onshore basin area under exploration license nearly doubled from 2010 to 2012.
• Includes a formal citation to a peer-reviewed journal article (The APPEA Journal).

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The primary file formats are PDF and HTML, which may not be directly machine-readable for analysis.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia and partners in state and NT surveys, via the Australian Ocean Data Network.

Collection Method

Extended abstract and presentation prepared for the APPEA Conference & Exhibition 2013.

Time Range

Historical coverage from early 20th century to 2013, with specific data points from the 1960s, 1980s, and 2010-2012.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-10 16:43:16.177357; freshness should be verified as the underlying content is from 2013.

Geography

Australia, with focus on onshore basins including the Amadeus Basin and Canning Basin.