Student: Marien Parra Garcia

Thesis: Petroleum systems of the western Canning Basin WA, based on 2D structural interpretation and basin modelling.

Summary

This project intends to increase knowledge of the petroleum systems in the Canning Basin WA. In this basin a key area of research has been to document the distribution and quality of reservoirs and source rocks. Fewer studies have addressed the structural evolution of the basin, and none of them have applied sequential structural modelling.
2D basin modelling is a powerful exploration and integration tool because it provides a reference framework for looking at the interrelationship of the petroleum system elements and processes. It also requires the development of a structural history which must be consistent with all available geological information.
Seismic interpretation of regional sections will be integrated with stratigraphical and geochemical information to develop a structural evolution that will be the foundation for a 2D basin modelling exercise. The final results will highlight areas with hydrocarbon potential and will be a tool for defining further strategies of exploration.

Why my research is important

The Canning Basin is the largest onshore basin in Australia, and one of the largest Palaeozoic basins in the world with an extent of more than 640,000 km2. It is also the least explored Palaeozoic basin in the world, with far less than one well/1000km2. As a consequence, the petroleum accumulations that have been discovered within it are small (between 23 and 1854 KBbl of oil), compared with those discovered in other analogous like the Palaeozoic basins of North America and Africa, all of which contain giant and super giant hydrocarbon accumulations (Carlsen and Ameed, 2005). Based on this comparison it is likely that there are undiscovered commercial hydrocarbons in the Canning Basin, and in order to increase the possibility of success in finding these resources and to identify the most prospective areas for developing further exploration, it is necessary to improve the knowledge of the basin’s petroleum system(s).

Supervisors: Winthrop Professor Dentith; Professor George; Winthrop Professor Cawood

Funding: IPRS; Geological Survey of Western Australia

Contact: Marien Parra Garcia

School of Earth & Environment,
CET

Phone: (+61 8) 6488 1873
Fax: (+61 8) 6488 1178