AUSTRALIA 2013Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release

RELEASE AREAS NT13-1, NT13-2 AND NT13-3, NORTHERN PETREL SUB-BASIN AND MALITA GRABEN, BONAPARTE BASIN, NORTHERN TERRITORY

Figure 1 Location of the 2013 Release Areas in the northern Petrel Sub-basin and Malita Graben of the Bonaparte Basin

HIGHLIGHTS

BIDS CLOSE - 22 May 2014• Under-explored gas province, with potential

charge from Paleozoic and Mesozoic sources

• Shallow water depths, 40–200 m

• Close to the Evans Shoal, Greater Sunrise, Caldita and Barossa gas fields, and Darwin (Wickham Point) LNG plant supplied by the Bayu–Undan gas pipeline

• Faulted anticlines, tilted fault blocks and stratigraphic traps

• Special Notices apply, refer to Guidance Notes

Release Areas NT13-1, NT13-2 and NT13-3 are located in the northeastern Bonaparte Basin in the Timor Sea. Release Areas NT13-1 and NT13-2 are in the Malita Graben, with NT13-1 also partly overlapping the Darwin Shelf. Release Area NT13-3 is mostly situated in the northern Petrel Sub-basin. Release Areas NT13-1 and NT13-2 are located entirely within the marine reserve Multiple Use Zone (IUCN VI), Oceanic Shoals, and NT13-3 is located partly within this marine reserve.

The Malita Graben is a northeast-trending dominantly Mesozoic–Cenozoic depocentre in the northern Bonaparte Basin that lies between the Sahul Platform to the north and the Petrel Sub-basin and Darwin Shelf to the south. The active petroleum system in the region of the Release Areas has been defined as the Jurassic Plover-Plover(.) Petroleum System (Barrett et al, 2004). The active source pod within the Plover Formation is interpreted to extend throughout the Malita Graben and onto the marginal areas of the Sahul Platform (Heron Terrace). Modelling suggests it is gas-prone with moderate liquids, but with little or no oil potential. The southern part of Release Area NT13-3 falls within the gas-prone Permian Hyland Bay/Keyling-Hyland Bay(.) Petroleum System. The main structural plays are broad faulted anticlinal structures over tilted fault blocks at the base of the regional seal. Tilted horst blocks are attractive targets on faulted terraces and stratigraphic traps include pinch-outs and truncations across unconformities. Expanding infrastructure in the region will facilitate development of new discoveries.

AUSTRALIA 2013 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release 1

WESTERNAUSTRALIA

NORTHERNTERRITORY

SOUTHAUSTRALIA

QUEENSLAND

NEWSOUTHWALES

VICTORIA

TASMANIA

Areas NT13-1 to 3Bonaparte Basin

12-6769-1

AUSTRALIA 2013 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release 2

Figure 2 Structural elements of the Malita Graben, Darwin Shelf and northern Petrel Sub-basin (after West and Passmore, 1994) showing petroleum fields and discoveries, the location of regional cross-sections and the 2013 Release Areas

LYN

EDO

CH

BAN

K

FAU

LT

SYSTEM

Bathurst Terrace

Heron Terrace

MoneyShoal

Platform

Basilisk 1A

Bayu/Undan pipeline

Ichthys pipeline (proposed)

Jura 1

NORTHERN

TERRITORY

WESTERN

AUSTRALIA

Figure 4

Figure 5

Sunrise/Sunset

Darwin Shelf

Malita Graben

PetrelSub-basin

SahulPlatform

MONEY SHOAL BASIN

TroubadourTerrace

CalderGraben

FlamingoSyncline

Sahul Syncline

NT13-3

NT13-2

NT13-1

Evans ShoalBarossa

Troubadour

Caldita

Evans Shoal South

Gull 1

Fohn 1

Newby 1

Marsi 1

Heron 1, 2

Curlew 1

Beluga 1

Wonarah 1Sikatan 1

Wallaroo 1

Nabarlek 1

Flat Top 1

Durville 1Darwinia 1

Chuditch 1

Schilling 1

Laperouse 1

Kelp Deep 1

Jacaranda 1

Shearwater 1

Blackwood 1

0 75 km

WA

NT

SA

QLD

NSW

TAS

VIC

12-6769-2

Well symbol information is sourced either from "open file" data from titleholders where this is publicly available as at 1 December 2012 or from other public sources. Field outlines are provided by EncomGPinfo, a Pitney Bowes Software (PBS) Pty Ltd product. Whilst all care is taken in the compilation of the field outlines by PBS, no warranty is provided re the accuracy or completeness of theinformation, and it is the responsibility of the Customer to ensure, by independent means, that those parts of the information used by it are correct before any reliance is placed on them.

10°

12°

128° 130°

Petroleum exploration well - Dry holePetroleum exploration well - Gas show

Petroleum exploration well - Not classified

Petroleum exploration well - Gas discoveryPetroleum exploration well - Oil show

2013 Offshore PetroleumAcreage Release Area

Gas field

Mesozoic

Paleozoic

Platform/shelf

FaultHingeBasin outlineSub-basin outlineSeismic lineGas pipelineGas pipeline (proposed)Scheduled area boundary (OPGGSA 2006)

AUSTRALIA 2013 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release 3

Figure 3 Stratigraphy and hydrocarbon discoveries of the Malita Graben and Petrel Sub-basin based on the Bonaparte Basin Biozonation and Stratigraphy Chart (Nicoll et al, 2009). Geologic Time Scale after Gradstein et al (2012)

Age(Ma) Period Epoch Stage Shows

Seismichorizons

(AGSO, 2001)

Basinphases

30

4040

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

150

160

170

180

190

200

210

220

230

240

250

260

270

280

290

Shows Petrel Sub-basin Malita Graben

Perm

ian

Induan

Chattian

Eocene

Pale

ogen

e

Paleocene

Maastrichtian

DanianSelandianThanetian

Ypresian

Lutetian

BartonianPriabonian

RupelianOligocene

Campanian

LateSantonianConiacian

Turonian

Cenomanian

Albian

Cre

tace

ous

AptianEarly

Barremian

Hauterivian

Valanginian

Berriasian

Tithonian

KimmeridgianLate

Oxfordian

CallovianBathonian

Jura

ssic Bajocian

Aalenian

Toarcian

Early

Middle

Pliensbachian

Sinemurian

Hettangian

Rhaetian

NorianLate

MiddleLadinian

Carnian

Anisian

OlenekianEarlyChanghsingian

Wuchiapingian

Capitanian

Wordian

Roadian

Kungurian

Artinskian

Sakmarian

Cisuralian

Guadalupian

Lopingian

Asselian

Tria

ssic

mtri

bjtt

call

bcre

val

apt

tur

bter

beoc

molig

Heron 1

Heron 2Heron 1

Heron 1

Jacaranda 1

Heron 2Heron 1, Jacaranda 1

Heron 2

Curlew 1

Sandpiper 1

Blacktip 1Ascalon 1AFishburn 1

Ascalon 1A, Tern 3

Torrens 1Tern 2, Tern 3

Turtle 2

Petrel 2Turtle 1Petrel 2, Penguin 1, Polkadot 1

Blacktip 1, Bougainville 1, Tern 2Cambridge 1, Torrens 1Blacktip 1, Polkadot 1

Turtle 2Barnett 1, Shakespeare 1, Turtle 1

Tern 1Turtle 1

Blacktip 1Barnett 1

Torrens 1Barnett 2

Cape Ford 1Lacrosse 1

300

310

320

Gzhelian

Kasimovian

Moscovian

Car

boni

fero

us

Barnett 1, Barnett 3,Cape Ford 1, Kulshill 1,Lacrosse 1, Turtle 1

Tern 1, Tern 2Tern 3, Tern 4

Ascalon 1A, Petrel 1, Petrel 2, Petrel 3Petrel 4, Petrel 6, Tern 4

Bashkirian

Pennsylvanian

12-6769-3

Woo

dbin

e G

roup

tper

tcar

Penguin Formation

Ditji Formation

Sag

dom

inat

edSa

g do

min

ated

Inve

rsio

n(F

itzro

y M

ovem

ent)

Ascalon FormationFishburn Formation

Tern Formation

KeylingFormation

FossilHead

Formation

DombeyFormation

Penguin Formation

Ascalon FormationFishburn Formation

Mairmull Formation

Tern Formation

Cape HayFormation

TorrensFormation

Lower Cape LondonberryFormation (Osprey

Formation equivalent)

CapeLondonberry

Formation

MalitaFormation

PloverFormation

FrigateShale

LowerFrigate Shale

Ciela Formation

SandpiperSandstone

EchucaShoals

Formation

DarwinFormation

WangarluFormation

Woo

dbin

e G

roup

Bath

urst

Isla

nd G

roup

Bath

urst

Isla

nd G

roup

Flam

ingo

Gro

up

Flam

ingo

Gro

up

Trou

ghto

n G

roup

Trou

ghto

n G

roup

Kinm

ore

Gro

up

Kinm

ore

Gro

up

PrionFormation

HiberniaFormation

JohnsonFormation

PuffinFormation

WangarluFormation

DarwinFormation

EchucaShoals

Formation

FrigateShale

Sandpiper

Sandstone

PloverFormation

MalitaFormation

CapeLondonberry

Formation

TorrensFormation

DombeyFormation

Pearce Formation

Cape HayFormation

Lower Cape LondonderryFormation (Osprey

Formation equivalent)

Mairmull Formation

Fossil HeadFormation

Hibernia Formation(Grebe Sandstone

Member)

Oliver Formation(Oliver Sandstone

Member)

ElangFormation

UndifferentiatedWoodbine

Group

Mt G

oodw

inSu

b-gr

oup

Hyl

and

Bay

Sub-

grou

p

Mt G

oodw

inSu

b-gr

oup

Hyl

and

Bay

Sub-

grou

p

Quoin Formation

KuriyippiFormation Ku

lshi

ll G

roup

Aquitaine FormationArco Formation W

adey

eSu

b-gr

oup

TreacheryFormation

PearceFormation

Elang Formation

AUSTRALIA 2013 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release 4

Figure 4 AGSO seismic line 116/11 across the Sahul Platform, Malita Graben and Darwin Shelf (AGSO, 2001). Location of the line is shown in Figure 2. Regional seismic horizons are shown in Figure 3

0

2

4

6

8

10

Two-

way

tim

e (s

)NW SEShearwater 1

BasementLate Carboniferous

Carboniferous

Near Top

NearTop Permian

Base Jurassic/Top Triassic

intra-Triassic

Callovian

Aptian

Turonian

Base TertiaryBase Eocene

Mid Oligocene Late MioceneWater bottom

Base CretaceousValanginian

NT13-1NT13-2

12-6769-4Line 116/11

0 50 km

Darwin ShelfMalita GrabenSahul Platform

AUSTRALIA 2013 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release 5

Figure 5 Northern part of AGSO seismic line 100/05 across the Malita Graben and Petrel Sub-basin (AGSO, 2001). Location of the line is shown in Figure 2. Regional seismic horizons are shown in Figure 3

6

4

Two-

way

tim

e (s

)

0

2

8

10

Gull 1NW SE

Basem

ent

Late Carboniferous

Near Top

CarboniferousNear Top Permian

intra-Triassic

Base Jurassic/ Top Triassic

Callovian

Base CretaceousAptian

Turonian

Base TertiaryBase EoceneMid Oligocene

Late Miocene

Water bottom

Valanginian

Volcanics

0 25 km

12-6769-5Line 100/05 (part)

Petrel Sub-basinMalita Graben

AUSTRALIA 2013 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release 6

PETROLEUM SYSTEMS ELEMENTS

Northern Petrel Sub-basin and Malita Graben

Sources • Lower–Middle Jurassic fluvio-deltaic Plover Formation (gas-prone)

• Middle–Upper Jurassic deltaic to marine Elang Formation (gas-prone, possible oil)

• Upper Jurassic marine Frigate Shale (gas-prone, possible oil)

• Lower Cretaceous marine Echuca Shoals Formation (oil-prone)

• Permian (Lopingian–Guadalupian) pro-delta, shoreface and open marine Hyland Bay Subgroup (gas-prone)

Reservoirs • Middle–Upper Jurassic deltaic to marine Elang Formation

• Upper Jurassic–Lower Cretaceous marine Sandpiper Sandstone

• Upper Cretaceous marine Wangarlu Formation

• Upper Cretaceous Puffin Formation submarine fans

• Lower–Middle Jurassic fluvio-deltaic Plover Formation

• Permian–Lower Triassic marginal marine Mount Goodwin Subgroup

• Permian shoreface to marine Hyland Bay Subgroup

Seals Regional seals

• Lower Cretaceous marine Echuca Shoals Formation

• Upper Jurassic marine Frigate Shale

• Triassic marine Mount Goodwin SubgroupIntraformational seals

• Lower–Middle Jurassic fluvio-deltaic Plover Formation

Traps • In the Malita Graben large faulted anticlinal structures occur at the base of the Lower Cretaceous regional seal (Barossa, Caldita, Heron, Sunrise).Tilted fault blocks and broad, low-relief anticlinal drape over tilted fault blocks (Evans Shoal and Lynedoch)

• Structural/stratigraphic plays (Beluga)

• On the Bathurst Terrace south of the Malita Graben there are structural play fairways and the possibility of hanging wall fault-dependent trap.

• In the northern Petrel Sub-basin, large-scale inversion anticlines (e.g. Petrel) formed during the Middle-Late Triassic Fitzroy Movement; commonly associated with salt mobilisation, faulted anticlines (Curlew, Gull, Tern, Blacktip and Frigate) and tilted fault blocks (Fishburn)

• Stratigraphic pinch-out plays of Jurassic (Newby) and Permian (Flat Top) sandstones occur at the basin margin

INFRASTRUCTURE AND MARKETSThe 2013 Release Areas are proximal to the Greater Sunrise, Caldita and Barossa gas fields and Darwin (Wickham Point) LNG plant supplied by the Bayu–Undan gas pipeline.

CRITICAL RISKSKey risks in the Release Areas are the lack of a viable oil-prone petroleum system in the central to northern Petrel Deep, since no known liquids-prone source rocks have been intersected, and in the Malita Graben where high geothermal gradients preclude likely generation or preservation of liquid hydrocarbons below about 2.5 km. There are also few suitably sized trap closures for economic gas accumulations. Reservoir quality is variable, with the quality of the Plover Formation sandstones becotming poorer towards the depocentre. Most gas accumulations in the Malita Graben contain high concentrations of non-combustible gases including nitrogen (N2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S).

AUSTRALIA 2013 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release 7

DATA SETSFor the Wells Data Listing go to http://www.petroleum-acreage.gov.au/2013/support/geo.html

For the Seismic Surveys Listing go to http://www.ga.gov.au/energy/projects/acreage-release-and-promotion/2013.html#data-packages

GEOSCIENCE AUSTRALIA PRODUCTS

Regional Geology and Seismic• Petrel Sub-basin Study 1995–1996: Summary Report. Australian Geological Survey Organisation Record 1996/40.

GEOCAT 22670

• Line Drawings of AGSO – Geoscience Australia’s Regional Seismic Profiles, Offshore Northern and Northwestern Australia, Australian Geological Survey Organisation Record 2001/36. GEOCAT 36353

• Interpreted Horizons and Faults for Seismic Surveys 100, 116 and 118 (2001)—Digital Horizon and Fault Data in ASCII Format. (2001) GEOCAT 35239, 35249 and 35243, respectively.

• Deep Structure of the Eastern Malita Graben and Adjacent Areas in the Timor and Western Arafura Seas: Survey 118 Operational Report. Australian Geological Survey Organisation Record 1993/47. GEOCAT 14645

Stratigraphy• Bonaparte Basin Biozonation and Stratigraphy Chart 33 (2009). GEOCAT 70371

Petroleum Systems and Accumulations• Bonaparte Basin, NT, WA, AC and JPDA, Australian Petroleum Accumulations Report 5, 2nd Edition, (2004).

GEOCAT 60865

• Petroleum Prospectivity of the East Malita Graben Area, Bonaparte Basin Australian Geological Survey Organisation Record 1992/24. GEOCAT 14535

• Light Hydrocarbon Geochemistry of the Bonaparte Basin: Including the Sahul Syncline, Malita Graben and Northern Petrel Sub-basin: Rig Seismic Survey 99: Project 121.24. Australian Geological Survey Organisation Record 1992/50. GEOCAT 14559

• The Petroleum Systems of the Bonaparte Basin. 2004. GEOCAT 61365

• Source Rock Time-slice Maps, Offshore Northwest Australia—1:3,000,000 Scale. (2004). GEOCAT 61179

• Oils of Western Australia II: Regional Petroleum Geochemistry and Correlation of Crude Oils and Condensates from Western Australia and Papua New Guinea, 2005. Geoscience Australia and GeoMark Research. GEOCAT 37512

• Characterisation of Natural Gases from West Australian Basins, Bonaparte Basin Module AGSO and Geotechnical Services non-exclusive study, 2000. GEOCAT 33569

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

AUSTRALIA 2013 Offshore Petroleum Exploration Acreage Release 8

KEY REFERENCESAGSO, 2001—Line Drawings of AGSO – Geoscience Australia’s Regional Seismic Profiles, Offshore Northern and Northwestern Australia. Australian Geological Survey Organisation Record 2001/36.

AMBROSE, G.J., 2004—Jurassic pre-rift and syn-rift sedimentation in the Bonaparte Basin – new models for reservoir and source rock development. In: Ellis, G.K., Baillie, P.W. and Munson, T.J. (eds), Timor Sea Petroleum Geoscience, Proceedings of the Timor Sea Symposium, Darwin Northern Territory, 19–20 June 2003, 125–142. Northern Territory Geological Survey, Special Publication 1.

ANDERSON, A.D., DURHAM, M.S. AND SUTHERLAND, A.J., 1993—The integration of geology and geophysics to post-well evaluations – example from Beluga-1, offshore northern Australia.

BARBER, P., CARTER, P., FRASER, T., BAILLIE, P.W. AND MYERS, K., 2004—Under-explored Palaeozoic and Mesozoic petroleum systems of the Timor and Arafura seas, northern Australian continental margin. In: Ellis, G.K., Baillie, P.W. and Munson, T.J. (eds), Timor Sea Petroleum Geoscience, Proceedings of the Timor Sea Symposium, Darwin, Northern Territory, 19–20 June 2003, 143–154. Northern Territory Geological Survey, Special Publication 1.

BARRETT, A.G., HINDE, A.L. AND KENNARD, J.M., 2004—Undiscovered resource assessment methodologies and application to the Bonaparte Basin. In: Ellis, G.K., Baillie, P.W. and Munson, T.J. (eds), Timor Sea Petroleum Geoscience, Proceedings of the Timor Sea Symposium, Darwin, 19–20 June 2003. Northern Territory Geological Survey, Special Publication 1, 353–372.

BOYD, R., KRIEGER, F., RYER, M. AND MATHERS, G., 2009—Integrating sedimentology, sequence stratigraphy and ichnology for improved reservoir prediction in the Bayu-Undan Field, Bonaparte Basin, NW Australia. Abstracts: Annual Meeting - American Association of Petroleum Geologists 2009.

KEEP, M., CLOUGH, M. AND LANGHI, L., 2002—Neogene tectonic and structural evolution of the Timor Sea region, NW Australia. In: Keep, M. and Moss, S. (eds), The Sedimentary Basins of Western Australia 3, Proceedings of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia Symposium, Perth, 2002, 341–353.

KENNARD, J.M., DEIGHTON, I., EDWARDS, D.S., BOREHAM, C.J. AND BARRETT, A.G., 2002—Subsidence and thermal history modelling: new insights into hydrocarbon expulsion from multiple petroleum systems in the Petrel Sub-basin, Bonaparte Basin. In: Keep, M. and Moss, S. (eds), The Sedimentary Basins of Western Australia 3, Proceedings of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia Symposium, Perth, 2002, 409–437.

LONGLEY, I.M., BRADSHAW, M.B. AND HEBBERGER, J., 2002—Australian Petroleum Provinces of the 21st Century. In: Downey, M.W. and Morgan, W.A. (eds), Petroleum Provinces of the Twenty-First Century, American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir, 74, 287–317.

LOWE, Y.B.S., RUTLEY, D., SPICER, R.D. AND KLOSS, O., 2004—The Evans Shoal Field, northern Bonaparte Basin. In: Ellis, G.K., Baillie P.W. and Munson, T.J. (eds), Timor Sea petroleum geoscience; proceedings of the Timor Sea symposium, Darwin, Northern Territory, 2003. Northern Territory Geological Survey Special Publication 1.

MORY, A.J., 1991—Geology of the Offshore Bonaparte Basin, Northwestern Australia. Geological Survey of Western Australia Report, 29.

ROBINSON, P.H., STEAD, H.S., O’REILLY, J.B. AND GUPPY, N.K., 1994—Meanders to fans: a sequence stratigraphic approach to Upper Jurassic – Early Cretaceous sedimentation in the Sahul Syncline, north Bonaparte Basin. In: Purcell, P.G. and Purcell, R.R. (eds), The Sedimentary Basins of Western Australia, Proceedings of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia Symposium, Perth, 1994, 223–242.

SEGGIE, R.J., AINSWORTH, R.B., JOHNSON, D.A., KONINX, J.P.M., MARSHALL, N., MURRAY, A.P., PHILLIPS, S.E., SPAARGAREN, R. AND STEPHENSON, P.M., 2003—The Sunrise-Troubadour gas-condensate fields, Timor Sea, Australasia. In: Halbouty, M.T. (ed), Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade 1990–1999, AAPG Memoir 78, 189–209.

SHUSTER, M.W., CASTILLO, D. A. AND SIMON, E., 2000—A Neogene-Recent tectonic model for the Timor Sea area, offshore Australia; geomechanical implications for charge, trap and retention. AAPG Bulletin, 84(9), 1491.

WEST, B. AND PASSMORE, V.L., 1994—Hydrocarbon potential for the Bathurst Island Group, Northeast Bonaparte Basin: implication for future exploration. The APEA Journal, 34(1), 626–643.

ZHIXIN, W., GUANGHUI, Z., LIN’AN, P. AND WENLIAN, T., 2012—An oil and gas resource assessment of the Bonaparte Basin, northwest shelf of Australia. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, 60(3), 218-226.