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Australia’s Exploration Disconnect: Why Higher Oil Prices No Longer DriveInvestment

02/09/2026 Posted by Rachel

Elio Lanzilli is a senior petroleum geoscientist with over 25 years of experience across exploration, appraisal and development in numerous Asia–Pacific geological provinces, including the North West Shelf, Bonaparte Basin, Cooper Basin, Indonesia and PNG. With a PhD in sedimentology and sequence stratigraphy, his career began mapping the PNG foreland—an experience that shaped his practical, field‑driven approach to subsurface problem‑solving.

He recently completed his tenure as PNG Exploration Manager at Santos and is now establishing LZRG, a subsurface advisory practice aimed at supporting operators in exploration risk and opportunity.

Australia’s Energy Commodity Resources 2026 now available

21/08/2026 Posted by Rachel

On August 10 2026, it was announced that Australia's Energy Commodity Resources 2026 was now available. Geoscience Australia’s latest edition of the Australia’s Energy Commodity Resources (AECR) publication confirms Australia’s position as a reliable, competitive and globally significant energy supplier, while highlighting the nation’s growing role in the clean energy transition.

Delivering a comprehensive assessment of the nation’s non-renewable energy resources as at the end of 2024, AECR 2026 reports that energy commodity exports generated $180 billion in export earnings in 2023–24 – around 27% of Australia’s total export earnings.

Australia ranked as the eighth highest primary energy producer across the globe, accounting for 2.7% of global energy commodity production in 2024.

Novel research approach to evaluate Helium prospectivity in basement–basin systems

13/08/2026 Posted by Rachel

The MIG (Metal Isotope Group) from Adelaide University recently published an article: “In-situ Rb–Sr dating of crystalline basement beneath the Amadeus Basin, Australia: Implications for radiogenic helium generation, migration, and extreme ⁴He accumulation”.

This work focuses on evaluating the timing of the different geological events that affected the basement underlying the Amadeus Basin using laser-based analytical techniques and integrating these results into the "system events chart" for helium (He) and hydrogen (H) generation, migration, and accumulation.

The Amadeus Basin hosts one of the world’s most extreme helium-rich systems globally (~9% He), representing a rare endmember dominated by highly radiogenic helium (⁴He: ~97%), with very low ³He/⁴He ratios (~0.03 Ra). Unli

From Core to Concept: PESA’s Practical Geoscience Workshops with Boyan Vakarelov

12/08/2026 Posted by Helen

In July, PESA brought a refreshing emphasis on practical geological interpretation to its technical program, hosting a series of workshops and lectures led by internationally recognised sedimentologist Dr Boyan Vakarelov, founder of SEDBASE.

Across Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland, participants were given the opportunity to move beyond traditional presentation-based technical training and work directly with core, depositional analogues, conceptual models and forward stratigraphic modelling. The result was a highly practical exploration of how geoscientists can improve their understanding of the subsurface — particularly where seismic resolution and well control leave significant uncertainty.

Vakarelov's program centred on...

AEP 2027 – Call for Papers Now Open

12/08/2026 Posted by Rachel

Each year the Australian Energy Producers Conference & Exhibition brings together the brightest minds in the energy sector to exchange ideas, challenge thinking and showcase innovation. The 2027 Conference will be held in Perth from 17-20 May 2027.

Australian Energy Producers have opened the Call for Papers for submissions to create the Technical & Business Program. The Technical & Business Program is again generously sponsored by bp and will feature both oral and visual (poster) presentations, selected through the Call for Papers process.

Submissions are invited from both Australian and overseas contributors, from diverse backgrounds, disciplines and perspectives, on a wide range of technical and strategic issues that shape our industry.

Redundancy, and how to make it an opportunity

04/08/2026 Posted by Janny

Redundancy is here to stay, and sooner or later it is likely that you find yourself in the situation where your position has become redundant.

It often comes as a shock, because, although often spoken about, nobody is ever really ready for the actual event, the one where YOU are the one being offered “a package”. Your mind is full; what do I do no? Is the package on offer fair? Do I need to seek legal advice. How am I going to pay my bills. And where will I go next?

It doesn't matter where you work, sooner or later you are likely to be on the receiving end of a redundancy round.

Vale Nigel Edwin Alexander Johnson (1936-2026)

14/07/2026 Posted by Helen

In May this year members of the industry gathered with many others to pay tribute to Nigel Johnson, a colleague whose knowledge of the stratigraphy of WA’s Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary basins was encyclopedic.

Nigel probably sat more wells and wrote or edited more well completion reports than anyone else in Western Australia and possibly Australia. For nearly five decades he earned the respect of his peers for his diligent and dedicated services which meant no stone, or in his case, no grain, was overlooked.

Nigel was quite famous and well-remembered for his rigorous and comprehensive sample descriptions.

PESA Queensland June Meeting

14/07/2026 Posted by Rachel

PESA Queensland were delighted to welcome Dr Matthias Raiber as the speaker to their June technical lunch meeting. Dr Raiber leads CSIRO’s Sustainable Groundwater Futures team in Brisbane and was presenting their work investigating structural controls on aquifer connectivity in the Narrabri region of the Great Artesian Basin.

The presentation highlighted the integrated workflow they undertook to improve understanding of connectivity between coal seam gas reservoirs and the overlying aquifers. Using a combination of airborne electromagnetics, seismic, igneous intrusion dating and hydro-chemical tracer datasets, they were able to identify potential connectivity pathways and test for evidence of hydraulic connection.

The audience of approximately 40 professionals enjoyed the presentation whilst enjoying a delicious lunch courtesy of the Stamford Plaza and it triggered some excellent discussion.

AAPG datapages evolve their offering with a collaboration with GeoScienceWorld

09/07/2026 Posted by Helen

Datapages has served AAPG members, publishing partners, and the wider geoscience community for nearly three decades. It has preserved and expanded access to important geoscience research, supported society publishers and provided a trusted archive for industry, academic, government, and individual users, all while being a source of revenue for AAPG.

To position Datapages for its next chapter, the Datapages Board of Directors, the AAPG Executive Committee and the GeoScienceWorld Board of Directors have approved the merger of Datapages into GeoScienceWorld.

This decision was made to preserve AAPG member access, modernize the Datapages platform, expand the reach of trusted geoscience content, protect AAPG’s publishing assets and create long-term value for AAPG and its members.

Understanding exploration success and failure in the Cooper and Eromanga Basins, South Australia

04/07/2026 Posted by Rachel

by David Spence

PESA SA/NT June Luncheon

Sharon Tiainen from DEM (Department for Energy and Mining, South Australia) provided attendees with an historical account of the exploration success and failure of the Cooper and Eromanga Basins in South Australia. Her talk was an expanded version of her presentation at the recent AEP conference held in Adelaide in May. Sharon is a geoscientist with extensive worldwide experience, having worked in all parts of the upstream E&P exploration and production industry.

Using statistical representations of open-file data, Sharon illustrated the patterns of gas exploration success, which followed a conventional basin exploration trend.