New exploration opportunities in the southern Vlaming Sub-basin
Chris Nicholson A , Irina Borissova A , Andrew Krassay B , Chris Boreham A , Eric Monteil C , Volkmar Neumann D , Rolando di Primio E and Barry Bradshaw AA Geoscience Australia
B FrOG Tech
C TimeMatter Biostratigraphic Services
D GeoS4 GmbH
E GFZ-Potsdam
The APPEA Journal 48(1) 371-380 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ07026
Published: 2008
Abstract
As part of the Australian Government’s Energy Security Initiative, a new tectono-stratigraphic and petroleum systems study has been carried out in the Vlaming Sub-basin on Australia’s southwest continental margin. The study has included: biostratigraphic revisions for key wells; seismic interpretations of new and reprocessed data; geochemical assessments of key source rock intervals and liquid hydrocarbons; structural restoration of key seismic sections; and, 3D burial history modelling. Results have significantly improved our understanding of the Vlaming Sub-basin’s evolution and provide a basis for future exploration. New exploration opportunities in the southern Vlaming Sub-basin are open to explorers through the Australian Government’s 2008 Acreage Release.
Chris Nicholson works as a research scientist at Geoscience Australia's Petroleum and Marine Division. His current research is on the geology and petroleum potential of Australia’s southwestern margin with a focus on the Vlaming, Mentelle and Bremer Sub-basins. Previously, Chris has undertaken research into the structural and geochemical controls on gold mineralisation Kambalda, Western Australia. Chris graduated from the Australian National University with a BSc (Hons) 2000. Chris.Nicholson@ga.gov.au |
Irina Borissova is a senior geoscientist in Southwest Margin project. She graduated from Moscow State University with MSc in geomorphology and in 1985 gained a PhD in marine geology from Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Science, where she worked until 1992. Since joining Geoscience Australia (former AGSO) in 1993 she contributed to a number of projects including map compilations, survey planning, defining and documenting marine jurisdictional boundaries for Law of the Sea project and frontier basin studies. Irina has been working on the southwest margin since 2001, first on the Naturaliste Plateau and later on the Vlaming Sub-Basin and Mentelle basin. She has experience and contributed to synthesis of regional tectonics, structural and seismostratigraphic interpretations, as well as analysis of petroleum system elements. Irina.Borissova@ga.gov.au |
Andrew Krassay is a senior geological consultant with FrOG Tech working on projects in Australia and overseas. Prior to joining Frog Tech in 2008 Andrew worked at Geoscience Australia and from 1994 to 1998 he was involved as a project geologist in onshore basin analysis and sediment-hosted mineralisation projects in QLD and the NT. In 1998 Andrew moved to the Petroleum and Marine Division as a project geologist and team leader of offshore basin analysis and petroleum prospectivity studies of basins along Australia's southern and southwestern margins including the Bight, Otway, Perth and Mentelle basins. Andrew has a BSc (Hons) 1989 in Geology/Geophysics from the University of Adelaide and a PhD (1995) in stratigraphy and sedimentology from the University of Adelaide. He is a member of PESA and SEPM and a past president of the PESA ACT Branch. akrassay@frogtech.com.au |
Chris Boreham is a Principal Research Scientist at Geoscience Australia. He obtained his PhD in bio-inorganic Chemistry from the Australian National University, Canberra, Shortly afterwards, Chris joined Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geoscience Australia’s predecessor as an organic geochemist. His research interests are in the application of biomarker, isotopic and kinetic tools in petroleum geochemistry and the biosphere-geosphere interface as it relates to alteration of petroleum and CO2. He now splits his time between projects related to the geological storage of CO2 and the Australian Government’s ‘New Energy Initiative’ involved in understanding the petroleum potential in frontier areas of Australia. Chris.Boreham@ga.gov.au |
Eric Monteil is managing director and palynologist consultant with TimeMatters (TimeMatters Biostratigraphic Services Pty Ltd) where he provides biostratigraphic services to the hydrocarbon industry, state geological surveys and governmental agencies. From 2001 to 2006, Eric worked as a senior biostratigrapher, including four years as project leader of the Timescales-VCEMP Project (Virtual Centre for Economic Micropalaeontology and Palynology), at Geoscience Australia. He was involved in the development of the Australian biozonations and maintenance of the national timescale and provided biostratigraphic support to the Big New Oil and Acreage Release projects. His expertise includes the Bight, Bremer, Mentelle, Otway, Perth and Vlaming basins, as well as the North West Shelf. Prior to his move to Australia, he spent two years with BG-Group in the UK and five years with IKU Petroleum Research in Norway. He holds two PhD degrees from the University of Paris and the University of Geneva. Member: PESA, AAPG, AASP, APLF, PESGB, NAMS and TMS. eric.monteil@bigpond.com |
Volkmar Neumann studied Geology at the Freie Universität in Berlin, Germany (FUB), graduating in 1998. Volkmar worked as a geologist for Preussag Energie GmbH (Germany) in Maracaibo/Venezuela from 1999–2000, and since 2002 has been at the GFZ Potsdam. He completed a PhD thesis in 2007 on numerical modelling and phase prediction in deep overpressured basinal settings of the Central Graben, North Sea. Since 2006 Volkmar has worked for GeoS4 GmbH as a basin modeller. Volkmar’s scientific interests include basin modelling. neumann@geos4.com |
Rolando di Primio joined the GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam as a senior research scientist in 2001 after having worked as an exploration geologist in the Norwegian petroleum industry (Saga Petroleum and Norsk Hydro) for several years. He holds a diploma in geology from the RWTH Aachen, Germany and a PhD from the University of Cologne. His research interests include hydrocarbon phase behaviour, basin modelling and organic geochemistry. diprimio@geos4.com |
Barry Bradshaw works as a senior research scientists within the Petroleum and Marine Division at Geoscience Australia. Since 2002, he has been studying frontier basins along the southern and southwestern Australian margins. Barry specialises in applying integrated basin analysis to assess petroleum prospectivity in offshore basins, and is leading a study of frontier basins along Australia’s southwest margin. Previously, Barry has undertaken research at Geoscience Australia into the geological sequestration potential of Australia’s sedimentary basins, and sediment-hosted mineral systems in Northern Australia. Before joining Geoscience Australia in 1995, he worked in the Gulf of Mexico Structural and Stratigraphic Synthesis Project at Texas A&M University between 1992 and 1994, undertaking research into salt and shale tectonics in offshore Texas. Barry graduated from the University of Sydney in 1988, and completed a PhD at the University of Waikato, New Zealand, in 1991. Barry.Bradshaw@ga.gov.au |
