1. 2016 WESTERN AUSTRALIAN STATE ACREAGE RELEASE
DMP Petroleum Open Day
15 September 2016
Richard Bruce
Petroleum Division
Welcome to Western Australia’s onshore bid rounds presentation.
I will be highlighting onshore petroleum acreage proposed for work program bidding.

2. Outline Acquire WA acreage Acreage release process
2016 work program bid round
Canning Basin
Officer Basin
Further information
I will also refer to
methods of acquiring acreage
applications must be done online
updated guideline relevant to bid assessment , and
the acreage release process

3. to acquire Acreage Corporate methods Farmin to existing titles
companies could benefit by cash injections and new ideas to accelerate work programs, in exchange for some equity
for maps/companies.
Company takeover – may be subject to Foreign Investment Review Board assessment
Apply to DMP
“Over the counter” – Special Prospecting Authority with an Acreage Option. Search SPA/AO on DMP website.
Work program bid rounds Release 1 of 2016
There are 4 main ways to get into WA acreage.
Corporate methods – in the present low oil price environment, there may be a number of opportunities.
Maps are available showing petroleum titles and companies that could be farmin targets.
Company takeover is subject to Foreign Investment Review Board review.
Apply to DMP
SPA/AO is described on the DMP website. Acreage has opened up a lot, especially in the Canning Basin, with permit relinquishments.
I will focus on the work program bidding areas in the following slides.

4. Many farmin opportunities – a big State!
These maps
show the principal basins in WA jurisdiction, and are colour coded by company names.
are available in the Exhibition area.
A number of companies could benefit by cash injections and new ideas to accelerate their work programs, in exchange for some equity.
Farm-ins may be available.
The key benefit of a granted title is that the native title agreement has been reached and there is commercial certainty pertaining to indigenous land access and land usage expectations and requirements.
 You can see that WA is large compared to major petroleum producing areas such as the North Sea, Texas and Alberta.

5. Acreage to become available
Maps indicate when titles due to expire and so partial relinquishment acreage may become available
These maps give an indication of when titles are due to expire. [wave flyer]
and therefore when some partial relinquishment acreage may become available.

6. Acreage release process
Maps – available areas
(native title & environment,
tectonic elements, wells & seismic)
PRE-BID
Acreage selection meeting/s
Referrals to stakeholders – internal & external
Acreage release package coordination
Gazettal & advertising
AFTER BIDS IN
Bid assessment
Offers to “preferred applicants”
Native title process
Grant of petroleum title
The acreage release process can be considered in two main parts: pre-bid and after bids are in.
Initially, maps are prepared which show wells and seismic in the context of tectonic elements, as well as maps showing registered native title claimant and determination areas and environmental aspects.
Meetings are held involving staff with relevant expertise to discuss and select potential  release areas. Consideration is given to prospectivity and land access issues.
Referrals are made to key stakeholders such as registered native title claimants and Local Government.
An acreage release package is developed aiming to provide a one stop shop comprehensive suite of information for potential applicants to consider against the requirements of the Acreage Release Guidelines.
This package is a real team effort and is a credit to numerous members of the Department, especially the Petroleum Division and the Geological Survey.
The package has information on prospectivity and petroleum data, how to apply for acreage, native title, environment and so on.
The release is published in the Government Gazette and it is publicised by various means, such as the WA DMP website, conferences and with articles.
Once the bids come in, they are assessed based on a number of criteria as shown on my next slide.
The selected Applicant is then notified of the decision and once confirmation is received that the Applicant wishes to proceed with the application, the Government will facilitate the commencement of the Commonwealth Native Title Act 1993 future act processes.   
Once the native title, future act processes has been successfully concluded, a petroleum title may be offered for grant.

7. Bid assessment
Bid assessment has more emphasis on stakeholder engagement plans and financial capacity.
Also
Land access, Native title and heritage
Environmental management
Geological evaluation, exploration rationale
and expertise.
Details on DMP’s website.
Get ready to bid!
The guideline for assessment of acreage release applications has recently been thoroughly updated through the diligent toil of members of the Petroleum Division!
The complete document is part of the acreage release package on DMP’s website.
It includes:
More emphasis on community engagement and evidence of financial capacity
Land access, Native title and heritage, Environmental management
Geological evaluation and exploration rationale

8. Bid rounds – apply online only
No longer hand delivery or by post.
Must be registered! If not already then
register for online submission and online payments, in advance of acreage release closing date to ensure access.
recommended to register at least 2 working days ahead of submission.
Use DMP’s secure online system PGR at:
This has a video of online lodgement.
From now on work program bids can only be made online.
Must be registered before accessing the Petroleum and Geothermal Register
If not already registered
register for online submission and online payments in advance of acreage release closing date to ensure access.
recommended to register at least 2 working days ahead of submission
Instructions are available online.

9. PETROLEUM ROUND 1 OF 2016 APPLY ONLINE only www.dmp.wa.gov.au/pgr
Release 13 September 2016, bids close 9 March 2017
APPLY ONLINE only
14 areas
6 Canning Basin
Lennard Shelf
L16-1 & L16-2
4240 km2 & 4392 km2
Platforms
L14-3 to L14-6
1770 km2 to 2407 km2
8 SE Officer Basin
L16-3 to L16-10
5054 km2 to 8129 km2
There are fourteen onshore release areas in two basins. Six are in the Canning Basin and there is eight in the Officer Basin.
Within the Canning Basin there are two areas on the Lennard Shelf and four areas largely on platform trends.
Release area size varies from 1770 km2 in the Canning Basin to over 8,000 km2 in the Officer Basin.
There are a range of possible plays including sub-salt, sandstones, carbonates, shale and tight-gas.
It is hoped that acreage opportunities will be taken up by new cashed-up players that are willing to engage in a counter-cyclical approach, and that by the time native title negotiations are concluded, the oil price may have improved.

10. Canning Basin infrastructure
A large Paleozoic basin (the size of France!) with some world class source rock and seals – plenty of room for a, so far, elusive giant!
The Canning Basin is remote from the State capital Perth (~1300km).
However, Canning oil has been trucked to the Kwinana oil refinery in the south of the State and
more recently to ports in the north of the State for shipping to refineries in SE Asia.
There is a gas pipeline to the large Telfer goldmine on the southern margin of the basin and a gas pipeline has been proposed along the coast of the onshore basin.
Interest in the Canning Basin has increased in recent years, with:
New play oil discoveries at Ungani in October 2011 and Ungani Far West 1 announced in March 2016.
Good oil and gas shows in Ordovician Goldwyer Formation shale in the unconventional Theia 1 well drilled in July-August 2015.
Large estimates for shale gas.
There are many large mines on the Pilbara Block to the south of the basin, some of which are changing from diesel to gas as the power source. One of the largest mineral sands deposit to be discovered in the last 30 years is located on the Dampier Peninsula between Broome and Derby – the Thunderbird deposit.

11. Canning Basin Lennard Shelf L16-1, L16-2
These maps show the two Lennard Shelf release areas, with wells and seismic.
Lennard Shelf oilfields have produced from Devonian carbonates and Permian-Carboniferous sandstones. The Blina field is situated to the west of L16-1 as per the map on the left.
Gas show in the Carboniferous Fairfield Group in release area L16-1 (see arrow).
Source rocks include:
Carboniferous Laurel Formation
Devonian reef complexes (Gogo and Virgin Hills formations)
Ordovician Goldwyer Formation
Potential conventional plays:
Devonian basin floor fan sandstones
Devonian reef carbonates
Potential shale and tight gas plays:
Laurel Formation/Fairfield Group shales
Gogo Formation and Virgin Hills Formation shales
The sealed Great Northern Highway traverses the release areas thus enhancing access.

12. Cross section Fitzroy Trough to Lennard Shelf
This cross section indicates possible migration of hydrocarbons from source rocks in the deep Fitzroy Trough to the Lennard Shelf on the margin of the basin.

13. Chestnut 1 mudlog
This shows a section of the mudlog from Chestnut 1 well in release area L16-1.
Note the gas show in the Carboniferous age Fairfield Group.

14. Canning Basin platform areas L14-3 to L14-6
This map shows the Canning Basin platform release areas, with wells and seismic.
The acreage became available for release after relinquishment at the end of permit terms from Buru Energy’s Exploration Permits, as required by the Petroleum Act .
Platform areas (Crossland & part of Broome Platform) & part of Kidson Sub-basin
At least 2 km thickness of Ordovician, Devonian and Permian strata.
Ordovician petroleum system
Extensive Goldwyer Formation source
Numerous oil and gas shows in vicinity (e.g. Sally May 1, Percival 1, Mirbelia 1)
Sub-salt plays - potential targets include Acacia Sandstone and Nita & Willara Formations carbonates
Note:
The Canning Stock Route in the centre.
There is a light grid of 2D seismic lines

15. Ordovician source maturity & petroleum migration
Subsalt (Ordovician) source rocks are mature on the southern Broome Platform.
These source rocks may be marginally mature on the Crossland Platform due to erosion of the Devonian section, although both platforms have access to petroleum generated in the southern sub-basins.
The shale-rich upper part of the Goldwyer Formation is oil prone on the Barbwire Terrace, whereas its lower units are more likely to be gas prone along the southern margins of the platforms.
Hydrocarbon shows in Sally May 1 and 2 indicate that oil and gas may have migrated into the Release Areas.

16. Officer Basin infrastructure
This map shows infrastructure relevant to the Officer Basin.
Although this is a remote area of Australia, you can see that there are some unsealed roads, public airports and a railway in the vicinity. Much further to the west there is a gas pipeline servicing minesites and towns.
The Officer Basin is a real frontier basin. However, it resembles Neoproterozoic successions in Oman and Russia, that contain giant oil and gas fields.
It appears that all the elements of a petroleum system are present. Good source beds and proven reservoirs capped by thick sections of salt or shale have been intersected.

17. Basement depth from gravity data L16-3 to L16-10
This image shows basement depth interpreted from gravity data.
Numerous oil shows have been encountered in Western Australian and South Australian mineral, petroleum and stratigraphic drillholes. Gas shows have also been encountered (e.g. Vines 1 in L16-4 and Birksgate 1 to the east of the release areas). Shown with arrows here.
Plays
Northern Release Areas (L16-3 to L16-6)
As salt-tectonics has deeply and more widely affected the area, in addition to structural and stratigraphic traps, there is a possibility of salt-related plays. If salt has been remobilized during younger tectonic events, secondary migration to shallower traps may have taken place.
Southern Release Areas (L16-7 to L16-10)
Mabel Creek seismic data in South Australia indicates that broad, gentle folds may be present.
Gravity data also indicate that basement highs are present. The basement highs may have been draped, possibly with four-way closure.
Neoproterozoic sandstones are a potential target. Sub-salt and unconventional hydrocarbons may be present.

18. Officer Basin – some ~analogies
NW of release areas
Oman
This interpreted seismic line lies to the northwest of the release areas and salt tectonics have been inferred.
Neoproterozoic successions in other parts of the world are known to have giant petroleum upside:
In Oman there are salt deposits up to 1 km thick which have acted as a regional super-seal and enabled exceptionally long preservation of hydrocarbons. Neoproterozoic rocks are believed to have sourced about 12 billion barrels of oil, which migrated at the edge of the salt up into shallower and younger strata in the South Oman Salt Basin.
In Russia’s Lena-Tunguska petroleum superprovince, a thick salt succession provides a regional super-seal for giant oil and gas fields, which are reservoired in the underlying Meso-Neoproterozoic succession.
Southwest China’s Sichuan Basin is another prolific Neoproterozoic petroleum producing province. There are numerous gas and oil fields that are sourced and reservoired in Neoproterozoic formations, mainly carbonates.

19. Further information Visit Exhibition area, and discuss with us
For details such as
Release area and basin prospectivity reports
Petroleum data availability
Titles regime, updated bid assessment guidelines
Land access, native title and environment
Fiscal aspects
Other information
See
Generic information may be obtained from the Department’s website at any time.
However, information specific to this acreage release was viewable since the release date of 13 September 2016.