OFFSHORE PETROLEUM EXPLORATION

ACREAGE RELEASE | AUSTRALIA 2014

Release Area W14-19,

Eyre Sub-basin, Bight Basin,
Western Australia
Highlights
Work program bids close 2 April 2015
• Under-explored frontier Jurassic–Cretaceous
rift-basin
NORTHERN • Water depths 100–2800 m
TERRITORY

QUEENSLAND
• Adjacent to active exploration permits in
WESTERN Ceduna Sub-basin
AUSTRALIA
SOUTH
AUSTRALIA
• Deltaic and shallow marine depositional
NEW systems
SOUTH
WALES • Regional 2D seismic coverage
Area W14-19
Bight Basin VICTORIA • Well control provided by Jerboa 1
• Special Notices apply, refer to Guidance
TASMANIA Notes
13-7730-1

Figure 1 Location of the 2014 Release Area in the Eyre

Sub-basin of the Bight Basin

Release Area W14-19 is located 75 to 200 km off the south coast of Western Australia, approximately 400 km east
of Esperance, and comprises 360 graticular blocks covering the entire Eyre Sub-basin. The sub-basin represents an
offshore frontier where only one exploration phase occurred in the late 1970s to early 1980s, culminating in the well
Jerboa 1 which encountered minor residual oil indications.

The Eyre Sub-basin is located in the eastern Bight Basin and comprises a series of Middle Jurassic–Early Cretaceous
east-northeast-striking en-echelon half graben. The sub-basin covers an area of approximately 9200 km2, and contains
up to 3500 m of Jurassic–Cretaceous sediments. Geological understanding of the Eyre Sub-basin is based on
interpretation of a generally good quality, regional scale, 2D seismic data set, which has a line spacing of approximately
20–40 km, and the Jerboa 1 well, drilled by Esso Australia in 1980, which provides valuable stratigraphic control and
constraint on seismic-based facies interpretation. Additional stratigraphic information for the Cenozoic section is provided
by the results of Ocean Drilling Program Site 182 wells (Feary et al, 2000, 2004).

AUSTRALIA 2014 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release 1

DISCLAIMER: This document has been developed as a guide only. Explorers should not rely solely on this information when making commercial decisions.
Image courtesy of BHP Billiton Petroleum Pty Ltd.
 126° 129° 132°
SOUTH AUSTRALIA

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Madura Shelf
Apollo 1

»
W14-19 33°
Figu
r e4 % Potoroo 1

»
%
»
Jerboa 1 Eyre Sub-basin

Ceduna Sub-basin
Gnarlyknots 1, 1A

»
BIGHT BASIN
WA

SA

Recherche Sub-basin 36°

NT
QLD
WA
SA
NSW
VIC
0 100 km
TAS

13-7730-2

Well symbol information is sourced either from "open file" data from titleholders where this is publicly available as at 1 November 2013 or from other public sources.

2014 Offshore Petroleum Basin outline

%
% Seismic section figure location
Acreage Release Area
(work program bidding) Sub-basin outline Scheduled area boundary
Major fault (OPGGSA 2006)
Minor fault Petroleum exploration well - Dry hole
»

ODP site

Figure 2 Main structural elements of the Eyre Sub-basin showing well coverage, the location of the seismic section and
the 2014 Release Area

AUSTRALIA 2014 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release 2

 Eyre Sub-basin

Age Basin Super-

Period Epoch Stage Hydrocarbon shows sequences Lithostratigraphy
(Ma) phases
Holocene Tarantian
Quaternary Ionian
Pleistocene
Calabrian
Gelasian
Pliocene Piacenzian
Zanclean
Messinian

10 Tortonian

Neogene
Serravallian
Miocene
Langhian

Burdigalian
20
Aquitanian Nullarbor

Thermal subsidence and flexure

Limestone
Dugong and
Chattian Wilsons Bluff
Limestone
Oligocene
30
Rupelian

Priabonian

40 Bartonian
Paleogene

Eocene Lutetian

50
Ypresian
Pidinga
Wobbegong
Formation

Thanetian

60 Selandian
Paleocene
Regional
uplift

Danian

Maastrichtian
Thermal subsidence 2 BP4

70

Campanian
80

Late
Santonian Lithology
unknown.
Not
Coniacian penetrated
Tiger
Accelerated subsidence BP3

90 in any wells.
Turonian
Platypus
Formation
(Toondi
White Pointer Formation
Cenomanian
equivalent)
100
Ceduna
Formation
Cretaceous

Blue Whale (Toondi

Formation
Albian equivalent)

110

Madura
120 Aptian
Formation
Thermal subsidence 1 BP2

Early Bronze
Whaler

Barremian
130

Hauterivian

Valanginian Loongana
Formation
140
Southern
Berriasian Right

Tithonian Minke
Unnamed
150
Mechanical extension BP1

Late Kimmeridgian
Jurassic

Sea Lion Lithology

unknown.
160 Oxfordian Not
penetrated
in any wells.
Callovian
Middle Bathonian
Bajocian
13-7730-3

Figure 3 Stratigraphy of the Eyre Sub-basin, based on the Bight Basin Biozonation and Stratigraphy Chart (Mantle et al, 2009). Geologic Time Scale after Gradstein et al (2012)

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 Eyre Sub-basin

Jerboa 1
WNW ESE
0

Wobbegong
Dugong

White Pointer
Blue Whale
2
Bronze Whaler
Two-way time (s)

Southern Right

3 Minke
Sea Lion

Line DWGAB-28
5 13-7730-5

0 10 km

Figure 4 Seismic line DWGAB-28 across the Eyre Sub-basin. Location of the line is shown in Figure 2

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 126° 129° 132°
SOUTH AUSTRALIA

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Madura Shelf
'

W14-19 33°

'
'
Eyre Sub-basin

Ceduna Sub-basin
'

BIGHT BASIN
WA

SA

Recherche Sub-basin 36°

NT
QLD
WA
SA
NSW
VIC
0 100 km
TAS

13-7730-4

2014 Offshore Petroleum Basin outline

Acreage Release Area
Sub-basin outline
(work program bidding)
Scheduled area boundary
3D seismic surveys (OPGGSA 2006)
2D seismic surveys
' Petroleum exploration well
ODP site

Figure 5 Seismic and well data coverage in the vicinity of Release Area W14-19 in the Eyre Sub-basin, Bight Basin

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Petroleum systems elements
Eyre Sub-basin

Sources Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous syn-rift lacustrine shales

Early Cretaceous lacustrine deposits and coal

Reservoirs Sandy facies at base of Early Cretaceous supersequences

• Southern Right
• Bronze Whaler
• Blue Whale
• White Pointer
Highstand and lowstand sediments at base of Paleogene

• Wobbegong Supersequence

Seals Shale facies

• Upper Minke Supersequence

• Southern Right Supersequence
Fault seal

• Bronze Whaler Supersequence

• Sea Lion Supersequence
• Minke Supersequence
• White Pointer Supersequence

Traps Structural

• Footwall blocks of half-graben bounding faults

Stratigraphic

• Onlap onto hanging wall blocks and relay ramps

• Reactivation anticlines
• Progradational sandy facies within Wobbegong Supersequence

Infrastructure and markets

The Eyre Sub-basin is an offshore frontier near the border of Western Australia and South Australia and awaits its
first hydrocarbon discovery. Current large scale exploration activity in the adjacent Ceduna Sub-basin will require a
supportive infrastructure which could be expanded to cater for future activities in the 2014 Release Area.

Critical risks
A key prospectivity risk in the Eyre Sub-basin is the lack of hydrocarbon charge in areas where the basin fill is less than
2500–3000 m. Ruble et al. (2001) argued that timing of trap formation, generation, expulsion and reactivation are all
critical issues for the prospectivity. This particularly applies to the timing of migration and accumulation relative to the
period of uplift and erosion in the latest Cretaceous–early Paleocene. Given the localised nature of potential source
kitchens, accumulation size may also be an issue in the sub-basin.

Jerboa 1 is considered to have been a valid structural test of a drape structure over a basement block, and the cause
of failure is likely to be breaching of the trap following the accumulation of the hydrocarbon column (Messent, 1998).
Seismic data shows that a group of small faults branch upwards from the half-graben bounding fault, the result of Late
Cretaceous fault reactivation (possibly related to the period of uplift), as well as compaction.

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Data sets
For the Wells Data Listing go to
http://www.petroleum-acreage.gov.au/2014/support/geo.html

For the Seismic Surveys Listing go to

http://www.ga.gov.au/energy/projects/acreage-release-and-promotion/2014.html#data-packages

Geoscience Australia products

Regional geology and seismic
• Australian Southern Margin Synthesis, Project GA70, 2008. GEOCAT 68892

• Basement structure and its influence on the pattern and geometry of continental rifting and breakup along Australia’s
southern rift margin, 2012. GEOCAT 74031

Stratigraphy
• Geoscience Australia’s Basin Biozonation and Stratigraphy Chart Series: Bight Basin Biozonation and
Biostratigraphy Chart 35, 2014. GEOCAT 76687

Contact Geoscience Australia’s Sales Centre for more information or to order these reports or products,
phone +61 (0)2 6249 9966, email sales@ga.gov.au

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Key references
Bein, J. and Taylor, M.L., 1981. The Eyre Sub-basin: recent exploration results. The APEA Journal, 21(1), 91–98.

Blevin, J.E., Totterdell, J.M., Logan, G.A., Kennard, J.M., Struckmeyer, H.I.M. and Colwell, J.B., 2000. Hydrocarbon
prospectivity of the Bight Basin—petroleum systems analysis in a frontier basin. In: 2nd Sprigg Symposium – Frontier
Basins, Frontier Ideas, Adelaide, 29–30 June, 2000. Geological Society of Australia, Abstracts 60, 24–29.

Boreham, C.J., Krassay, A.A. and Totterdell, J.M., 2001. Geochemical comparisons between asphaltites on the southern
Australian margin and Cretaceous source rock analogues. In: Hill, K.C. and Bernecker, T. (eds), Eastern Australasian
Basins Symposium: a refocused energy perspective for the future. Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia, Special
Publication, 531–541.

Bradshaw, B.E., Rollet, N., Totterdell, J.M. and Borissova, I., 2003. A revised structural framework for frontier basins on
the southern and southwestern Australian continental margin. Geoscience Australia Record 2003/03.

Feary, D.A. and James, N.P., 1998. Seismic stratigraphy and geological evolution of the Cenozoic, cool-water Eucla
Platform, Great Australian Bight. AAPG Bulletin, 82 (5A), 792–816.

Feary, D.A., Hine, A.C., Malone, M.J. et al., 2000. Leg 182 summary: Great Australian Bight—Cenozoic cool-water
carbonates. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Initial Reports Volume 182.

Feary, D.A., Hine, A.C., James, N.P. and Malone, M.J., 2004. Leg 182 synthesis: exposed secrets of the Great Australian
Bight. Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Scientific Results, Volume 182.

Liu, K. and Eadington, P.J. 1998. Hydrocarbon petrography of Jerboa-1, Eyre Sub-basin, The Great Australian Bight.
CSIRO Petroleum Confidential Report 98-031 (unpublished).

Messent, B.E.J., Wilson, C. and Flynn, K., 1996. Assessment of the seal potential of Tertiary carbonates, Duntroon Basin,
South Australia. The APPEA Journal, 36 (1), 233–247.

Morgan, R.P., 1999. Palynology review of the pre-Tertiary of the Bight–Duntroon basins. Report for Primary Industries
and Resources South Australia (unpublished).

Quinn, D.M.T., 1999. An evaluation of seals, reservoirs, and fault sealing potential in the Eyre Sub-basin, Great
Australian Bight. BSc Honours Thesis, University of Adelaide, National Centre for Petroleum Geology and Geophysics
(unpublished).

Ruble, T.E., Logan, G.A., Blevin, J.E., Struckmeyer, H.I.M., Liu, K., Ahmed, M., Eadington, P.J. and Quezada, R.A.,
2001. Geochemistry and charge history of a palaeo-oil column: Jerboa-1, Eyre Sub-basin, Great Australian Bight. In: Hill,
K.C. and Bernecker, T. (Eds), Eastern Australasian Basins Symposium: a refocused energy perspective for the future.
Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia, Special Publication, 521–530.

Stagg, H.M.V., Cockshell, C.D., Willcox, J.B., Hill, A.J., Needham, D.V.L., Thomas, B., O’Brien, G.W. and Hough, L.P.,
1990. Basins of the Great Australian Bight region, geology and petroleum potential. Bureau of Mineral Resources,
Australia, Continental Margins Program Folio 5.

Struckmeyer, H.I.M., Totterdell, J.M., Blevin, J.E., Logan, G.A., Boreham, C.J., Deighton, I., Krassay, A.A. and Bradshaw,
M.T., 2001. Character, maturity and distribution of potential Cretaceous oil source rocks in the Ceduna Sub‑basin, Bight
Basin, Great Australian Bight. In: Hill, K.C. and Bernecker, T. (eds), Eastern Australian Basin Symposium: a refocused
energy perspective for the future. Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia, Special Publication, 543–552.

Totterdell, J.M., Blevin, J.E., Struckmeyer, H.I.M., Bradshaw, B.E., Colwell, J.B. and Kennard, J.M., 2000. A new
sequence framework for the Great Australian Bight: starting with a clean slate. The APPEA Journal, 40(1), 95–117.

Totterdell, J.M. and Krassay, A.A., 2003. Sequence stratigraphic correlation of onshore and offshore Bight Basin
successions. Geoscience Australia Record 2003/02.

Totterdell, J.M. and Mitchell, C. (editors), 2009. Bight Basin geological sampling and seepage survey, R/V Southern
Surveyor Survey SS01/2007: post-survey report. Geoscience Australia Record 2009/24.

Wilcox, J.B., Stagg, H.M.J., Davies, H.L. Shipboard Party. Rig Seismic research cruises 10 and 11: geology of the central
Great Australian Bight region. Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology and Geophysics, Report 286.

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