The prospectivity of the Late Triassic intervals in the outboard Exmouth Plateau, Western Australia

Abstract

The Exmouth Plateau is a deep-water plateau on the Australian continental margin underlain by 10–15 km of flat-lying, tilted and block-faulted Paleozoic–Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, which were deposited predominantly during periods of extension before continental break-up commenced in the middle Jurassic. The recent acquisition of the Mawson MC3D broadband seismic survey provides a modern, high-quality dataset located ~230 km to the north-west of Dampier, in the outboard Exmouth Plateau, in a relatively under-explored portion of the Northern Carnarvon Basin. The Late Triassic Mungaroo Formation is the primary reservoir target for the majority of the exploration in the Exmouth Plateau to date. A detailed investigation into the reservoir potential and prospectivity of the Mungaroo Formation is possible by utilising this modern dataset. The high-quality data presents a high-resolution view of the Rhaetian carbonate reef platforms and pinnacle reef complexes that are present within the Mawson survey footprint, revealing an under-explored play type within the region. The development of a detailed stratigraphic framework through the Late Triassic–Jurassic, combined with the use of attribute analyses and amplitude versus offset products can help de-risk identified prospects and highlight further prospectivity during the exploration process.