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Darwin

Northern
Territory
QLD

PROJECT

Bonaparte
Basin

WA
SA
NSW

Perth

Area
12,600km2

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The onshore sector of the Bonaparte
Basin is characterized by many
hydrocarbon shows, both oil and gas,
in poorly sited wells and shallow mineral
holes.
Many shallow mineral and stratigraphic
boreholes, close to the basin edge, have
encountered oil staining, both live and
residual.
The above point is empirical confirmation
that Gussows Theorem, whereby early
generated oil has been displaced up-dip
and margin-ward, by late generated dry
gas. Hence the basin is prospective for
both oil and gas.
These points prove that the basin
contains rich, mature source rocks and is
prospective for shallow accumulations of
oil and for deeper gas accumulations.
The highly truncated basin geometry
lends itself readily to hydrocarbon
migration
The onshore and near offshore sector
of the Petrel Sub-basin, the basins
southernmost and deepest depocentre,
has hydrocarbon shows and recoveries
from units ranging in age from Lower
Devonian through Lower Carboniferous,
Lower Permian to Early Triassic.
The area of EPA 175 is well placed with
regard to infra-structure to deliver either
oil or gas to unsatiated markets. The gas
pipe which connects the Blacktip Gas
Processing Plant at Wadeye, within the
permit, transects EPA 175 and connects
with the Amadeus-Darwin Gas Trunkline.
The Wadeye Condensate Loading
Facility is located immediately offshore
from Wadeye.

Sydney

Adelaide

VIC

Lease Holder
Bonaparte Oil Ltd
Lease No
EPA 175

Brisbane

Melbourne

TAS

The Petrel Sub-basin is now producing


gas and condensate from the Early
Permian Keyling Formation at the
offshore Blacktip Gas Field.
The other sub-basins of the offshore
Bonaparte Basin are also oil and gas
productive from the Mesozoic section,
from units ranging in age from Late
Cretaceous to Late Triasssic.
Unusually for Australia the Bonaparte
Basin, particularly the Petrel Sub-basin,
contains structural traps formed by
salt tectonics. These types of traps are
particularly productive in the Gulf Coast
Basin of Texas and Louisiana in the
United States of America. The famous
Spindletop and Jennings salt domes,
amongst many, are of this genesis.
The quality of seismic data acquired
in the onshore Bonaparte Basin is
extremely poor and an extensive
experimental recording program will
be required before new data is to be
acquired.
Most of the wells drilled to date are not
valid crestal tests.
It is generally thought that reservoir
quality and continuity is problematical in
the onshore sector of the basin. However
there are indications that much reservoir
damage has been done during drilling
operations.
In light of the above observation it is
recommended that extreme care should
be taken in drilling fluid selection.
Structural traps immediately adjacent to
and on the down thrown side of faults
should be seismically delineated and
tested. Several leads of this play have
been identified, in particular Lead Alpha.
Structures of a salt or diapiric genesis
should also be seismically delineated
and unambiguously tested. Several leads
of the play have been identified.
Exploration should be restricted to the
southwestern portion of EPA 175, west of
the Moyle Fault.

A range of structures, extending east to


west, from adjacent to the down thrown
side of the Moyle Fault to the coast,
should be tested.
Using indicative reservoir parameters
the identified structural Lead Alpha
situated on the down thrown side of
the Moyle Fault could host a possible
oil in place resource of 248 million
barrels (MMBBLS) or a recoverable
possible resource of 157 MMBBLS. If the
structure was found to host gas then the
corresponding possible gas resource
cases would be 2.6 trillion cubic feet
(TCF) or 2.2 TCF, respectively.
Several leads of a similar size and origin
have been identified and several leads of
a salt induced nature, of a similar areal
extent, have also been recognized.

1. ABSTRACT
Bonaparte Oil Limited (Bonaparte Oil) is
a private company incorporated on 18th
January 2010. with the objective of exploring
for, discovering and eventually developing,
producing and commercializing,
hydrocarbon accumulations in the
onshore sector of the Bonaparte Basin in
the Northern Territory (NT). In an attempt
to address this objective the company
applied for and was subsequently awarded
Exploration Permit (EP) 175 in the Wadeye,
formerly known as Point Keats, area of the
Northern Territory. An offer of this permit has
been made to the company, and subject
to an appropriate Native Title settlement
being concluded, the tenement will be
formally awarded to Bonaparte Oil, until
then its formal designation is Exploration
Permit (Application) (EPA). The principal of
the company is involved in the petroleum
exploration in other sedimentary basins in
the NT and some of the States of Australia.
And as such is versed in overseeing
exploration projects.

Australian Oil & Gas Ltd

Project: Bonaparte Basin

21

Other companies associated with Bonaparte


Oil and its principal hold other exploration
tenements or have submitted applications
for acreage in the onshore Canning Basin
of Western Australia (WA) and in the sector,
in South Australia (SA), of the Cooper/
Eromanga Basin Complex. Bonaparte Oil
and its associated companies are actively
assessing exploration opportunities in other
prospective basins in Australia. This report
is exclusively focused on Bonaparte Oils
onshore Bonaparte Basin acreage.
To fulfill its aim, the company has acquired
an under-explored but prospective
petroleum exploration tenement, EPA
175, which abuts the coast and contains
and surrounds the Aboriginal settlement
of Wadeye, in the onshore sector of the
hydrocarbon productive Bonaparte Basin,
southwest of Darwin. The offshore sector of
the Bonaparte Basin produces both oil and
gas, and sub-commercial accumulations
of oil and gas have also been discovered
in the onshore sector of the basin in both
WA and the NT. Infrastructure to produce
a gas discovery in EPA 175 is already in
place with the gas processing plant at
Wadeye and the pipeline connection via the
Amadeus-Darwin Gas Pipeline to Darwin.
This infra-structure is associated with the
recent development of the offshore Blacktip
Gas Field.
Besides Darwin other, unsatiated, gas
markets are present in the NT. The alumina
plant at Nhulunbuy, a long standing
potential gas market, is still to be supplied.
The Territory capital is a ready market and
port, with gas-processing, liquefaction
and loading facilities. These facilities were
constructed to produce the large BayuUndan gas and condensate accumulations
in the Timor Sea, northwest of Darwin.
Hence liquefied natural gas (LNG) could
be exported from Darwin if a large enough
discovery is made.

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Australian Oil & Gas Ltd

Project: Bonaparte Basin

Oil could also readily disposed of as


offshore oil and/or condensate loading
facility is located some two kilometres
offshore Wadeye. There is a ready market
for sweet, light Australian crudes which
normally commands the Tapis price which
sells at a premium to the more commonly
known West Texas Intermediate oil price.
Oil, which has been discovered and
produced in the Timor Sea at the Laminaria,
Corallina and Buffalo, Oil Fields, amongst
others, is more easily transportable, more
profitable and more readily able to be
developed than is gas. Condensate rich,
but sub-commercial gas flows, has been
encountered in quite a few wells in the
onshore sector of the basin, at the Weaber
Gas Field in Retention Lease (RL) 1 in the
NT, Kulshill 1&2, located in EPA 175, Keep
River 1, just south of the tenement, and
Ningbing 1&2 and Waggon Creek 1/1A
and Vienta 1 in WA. As indicated above, an
offshore liquids loading facility is located
at Wadeye. Modest oil discoveries could
also be developed, with modular, on-site
dieseline refining facilities, for local markets
in northern Australia.
This permit, EPA 175, whilst lightly explored,
contains three wildcat exploration wells
which were drilled by Australian Aquitaine
Petroleum Pty Ltd (Aquitaine) in the mid
1960s. These wells are Kulshill 1, Kulshill
2 and Moyle 1 all located in the southwest
of the tenement. Two of which, Kulshill
1 and Kulshill 2, have recorded strong
hydrocarbon indications, both liquids and
gas. The third of these wells, Moyle 1, a
stratigraphic test which penetrated a thinner
section, not surprisingly, did not encounter
any hydrocarbon indications. Further
south in the onshore sector the yet to be
developed Weaber Gas Field is located in
RL 1. The Keep River 1 well, from which a
sub-commercial gas flow was recorded in
1969, is also located to the south, as is the

very rudimentarily located well, Spirit Hill 1,


from which hydrocarbon indications are also
reported.
Further to the southeast is the Bulloo River
1 well, sited to investigate the Bulloo River
oil seep. Bulloo River 1 was a wildcat/
stratigraphic well located without seismic
data. Bonaparte Oil has no interests in
either RL 1, nor in EPA 126.
The area south and east of EPA 175 also
contains many mineral exploration drill holes
in which significant intervals of oil staining
and some live oil were encountered. These
indications of oil are located near the
basins southeastern margin, and to a lesser
extent, eastern margin. This indicates that
a large charge of oil has reached the basin
margin and it proves in an empirical sense
that one the most important requirements
for an accumulation of hydrocarbons,
namely the presence of rich and mature
source rocks, has been met in the basin.
This is very significant and is supported
by geochemical analyses of cores from
deeper oil and gas exploration wells drilled
further away from the basin margin. This
indicates that the so far un-scientifically
tested play, structural traps which are
located immediately down dip of the basin
margin, should be pursued as a matter
of priority. Several leads of this type have
been recognized on the sparse poor quality
seismic grid present in the block. A two way
time structure map, prepared by a former
operator Aquitaine, of Lead Alpha, which is
representative of this type of play, is shown
as Figure 7. This lead, as with all others, will
require additional seismic detailing.
An appreciable amount of coal drilling has
also been conducted in the Port Keats
area. This drilling which was conducted for
the South Australian Department of Mines
began in 1906 and deep bores were drilled
in the Port Keats, Cape Hay, Cliff Head

and Anson Bay areas. This drilling was


abandoned in 1909 when the coal seams
were found to be thin and not continuous.
This coal later became known as the Upper
Permian coal seam.
Deeper buried Early Permian coals were
intersected in the Kulshill 1, and Kulshill 2
petroleum exploration wells, drilled in the
mid 1960s. These intersections spurred
on a second phase of coal exploration
in the Port Keats area. The results of this
exploration were the same as those of the
earlier drilling, that is again it was found
that the coals were thin, discontinuous
and of no appreciable areal extent. It
was also concluded that the coals were
contained within unconsolidated sediments
and hence could not be mined by either
open cut or underground methods. As a
consequence of this drilling, the potential
for coal bed methane drainage (CBM)
within EPA 175 is considered by the author
to be negligible. Extensive drilling would
have to be undertaken to fully evaluate the
CBM potential of EPA 175, which appears
to be minimal. It should also be noted that
salt diapirism has been proven in the near
offshore area and near coastal sections of
Petrel Sub-basin, the basins deepest and
most southerly depocentre.
Gravity surveys in adjacent onshore acreage
in WA indicate the presence of low density
section, thought to be halites. This has
been confirmed by drilling. This play, which
is also unambiguously tested, warrants
investigation as well. It too will require
seismic acquisition. The perceived timing of
generation and migration of hydrocarbons
will determine the ideal test site, on any salt
generated structure. Salt formed structures
should be tested on both the crest and flank
of the structure to unambiguously evaluate
the feature, given the uncertainty of the
timing of hydrocarbon migration.

Whilst the most recent target in the onshore


Bonaparte Basin has been gas, the results
of this study indicate that the permits are
very prospective for oil as well as gas. In a
practical sense this is also important as oil
is far more profitable than gas and the oil
is more likely to be located near the basin
margin at shallower depths, hence drilling
costs will be cheaper than for the deeper,
more basin-ward, gas exploration wells.
It has been, and still is, conventional
wisdom that the greatest impediment to
successful exploration and of eventual
hydrocarbon production from the onshore
sector of the Bonaparte Basin is the lack
of good quality and continuous reservoir
rocks. It is the authors opinion that this may
be in error as studies from cores from deep
petroleum wells, and empirical results from
drillstem tests, indicate the presence of
reservoir quality rock. This is also supported
by sedimentological studies, conducted on
core and cuttings samples from onshore
and offshore wells, by several former
operators in the Bonaparte Basin. This is
also true of one of the last operators in the
Weaber area and the adjacent permit in WA,
Amity Oil Limited N.L. (Amity).
In a similar sense, these studies also show
the presence of sealing units in an interbedded sequence of coarse sandstones
(=clastics) and finer siltstones and shales.
This is also proven by the empirical results
of some of the wells within and near the
permit area, several of which flowed, for
some time at least, at commercial rates.
The best of these was at the Weaber1
gas discovery well which flowed gas at
the rate of 4.5 million cubic feet a day
(MMCFD). Clearly this value, if sustained,
and duplicated in appraisal wells, is a
commercial rate. Interestingly the operator
of the abovementioned discovery well,
Aquitaine, was of the view that the section
with hydrocarbon shows was tight and not

worth drillstem testing. As a consequence


the well was plugged and abandoned
without a test. In due course the well began
leaking gas and a subsequent operator,
Santos Limited (Santos), at the request of
the NT Department of Mines and Energy,
re-entered and tested the well and obtained
the abovementioned flow.
It is known that most of the wells drilled in
and around the permit, and all through the
onshore sector of the basin, are not valid
tests, as they are not located on the crests
of the structures and hence are not definitive
evaluations of the structures hydrocarbon
bearing potential, nor of the reservoirs
deliverability. Most wells in the area have
encountered indications of hydrocarbons.
It is the authors opinion that the reservoirs
may have been damaged during drilling.
Reservoir damage is a serious problem in
some intervals of hydrocarbon saturation of
basins in eastern Australia.
The results of this study have established
that the onshore sector of the Bonaparte
Basin fulfils all the requirements for the
hosting of hydrocarbon accumulations,
namely: The presence of rich mature source
rocks
The presence of reservoir quality rocks
and carrier beds
The presence of sealing units
The presence of traps, both of a
structural and stratigraphic genesis
The appropriate timing of formation
of structures with regard to the prime
hydrocarbon charge
It is the authors view that, to the present,
the lack of commercial exploration success
in the area of Bonaparte oils permit, and the
entire onshore sector of the basin, has been
due to the difficulty in acquiring acceptable
quality seismic data, due to the poor

Australian Oil & Gas Ltd

Project: Bonaparte Basin

23

coupling ground conditions of the black soil


plains and the rocky sandstone out crops.
This prevents the preparation of accurate
sub-surface two way time (TWT) maps and
hence the identification of valid and robust
traps. The abovementioned problem should
be able to be solved relatively cheaply.

Bonaparte Basin location map


129 E

128 30' E

128 E
12 30' S

129 30' E

130 E

130 30' E

8,600,000 MN

NT/P79
PETREL GAS
5 61A
2
4 PETREL FIELD
3
13 S

TERN GAS
FIELD

8,550,000 MN

NORTHERN
TERRITORY

1 54 TERN
2
Tern 3

NT/P77

WESTERN
AUSTRALIA

13 30' S

Billawock 1

Penguin 1

8,500,000 MN

Polkadot 1

NT/P66

Bougainville 1 NT/P57

Wisteria
Sidestep11
Blacktip North 1
Blacktip 1
Lesueur 1

14 S

Shakespeare 1

BLACKTIP
GAS FIELD

8,450,000 MN

Kinmore 1

Weasel 1
Cambridge 1

WADEYE
Onshore
Gas Plant

Condensate
Export Mooring

Lacrosse 1

EPA 175

NT/P81

Kulshill 1
Kulshill 2

Moyle 1
To

Matilda 1
Windjana 1 Cape Ford 1

Turtle 1
2
3 1 Barnett
2
Sandbar 1

14 30' S

Am
n/
wi
ar

ad

eu

sg

as

e
p ip

e
lin

8,400,000 MN

Sunbird 1

EPA 135
Pelican Island 1

Kingfisher 1
8,350,000 MN

EPA 135

15 S

Bonaparte 1
Bonaparte 2
Ningbing 1

Garimala 1
Ningbing 2

Keep River 1

RL1

Skull 1
Waggon Creek-1,1A
Vienta 1

WEABER

GAS FIELD
25A
41 WEABER

Pincombe 1
Spirit Hill 1

15 30' S

8,300,000 MN

EPA 126
Bullo River 1

EPA 138
0

20

40

60

80

100

KILOMETRES

16 S

24

Australian Oil & Gas Ltd

Project: Bonaparte Basin

400,000 ME

450,000 ME

500,000 ME

BONAPARTE OIL LTD


ONSHORE BONAPARTE BASIN
EPA 175 LOCATION MAP
550,000 ME

600,000 ME

8,250,000 MN

650,000 ME

Bonaparte Basin Exploration Permit MAY 2011

EP175
12,600sq km

BONAPARTE OIL LTD


EP Applications - 12,600 sq km
Australian Oil & Gas Ltd

Project: Bonaparte Basin

25

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