The 2010 Australian offshore release for petroleum exploration

Abstract

The Australian Government formally releases new offshore exploration areas at the annual APPEA conference. In 2010, thirty-one areas in five offshore basins are being released for work program bidding. Closing dates for bid submissions are either six or twelve months after the release date—i.e. 11 November 2010 and 12 May 2011—depending on the exploration status in these areas and on data availability. The 2010 release areas are located in Commonwealth waters offshore Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia, comprising intensively explored areas close to existing production as well as new frontiers. The Westralian Superbasin along the North West Shelf continues to feature prominently, and is complimented by a new frontier area in offshore SW Australia (Mentelle Basin), as well as two areas in the Ceduna/Duntroon sub-basins in the eastern part of the Bight Basin. The Bonaparte Basin is represented by three areas in the Petrel Sub-basin and two areas in the Vulcan Sub-basin. Further southwest, four large areas are being released in the outer Roebuck Basin—a significantly under-explored region. This year, the Carnarvon Basin provides 16 release areas of which three are located in the Beagle Sub-basin, five in the Dampier Sub-basin, five in the Barrow Sub-basin, three on the Exmouth Plateau and three in the Exmouth Sub-basin. The largest singular release area covers much of the Mentelle Basin in offshore SW Australia, and two areas are available in the Ceduna and Duntroon sub-basins as part of South Australia’s easternmost section of the Bight Basin. The 2010 Offshore Acreage Release offers a wide variety of block sizes in shallow as well as deep water environments. Area selection has been undertaken in consultation with industry, the States and the Northern Territory. As part of Geoscience Australia’s Offshore Energy Security Program, new data has been acquired in offshore frontier regions parts of which are being published on the Mentelle Basin (Borissova et al, this volume).