Industry

New GSWA publications on plays of the Canning and Perth Basins

05/02/2026 Posted by Rachel

These two GSWA Records provide a valuable resource, especially for potential new explorers, on the Canning and Perth Basins. The publications provide an introduction to the basins, their exploration targets and drilling results. Unforeseen new play commercial discoveries (Ungani oil in the Canning Basin and Waitsia gas in the Perth Basin) are testimony to undiscovered hydrocarbon potential in these basins.

These GSWA Records are based on historical petroleum exploration targets, covering formation by formation and including drilling results. Information was summarised from company well completion reports and relevant literature.

These new publications are found on the DMPE e-bookshop, linked to below.

Record 2025/9

A Summary of Geological Play Types for Energy Commodities in the Perth Basin, within Western Australian Jurisdiction

RH Bruce

Published August 2025

Record 2025/16

PESA Deal Day 2026

03/02/2026 Posted by Rachel

Monday 18th May sees the return of the PESA Deal Day, a regular event in the PESA calendar that brings together a range of exciting opportunities and the community keen to invest in them. Spots are available now for both presenters and event sponsors - read on to learn more from co-convenor Wal Muir.

The PESA 2026 Deal Day will bring high quality exploration, appraisal and development opportunities from Australia and beyond to the attention of the international oil and gas industry.

Offshore Otway Basin Federal offshore acreage release, NOPTA guidance note revisions and NOPIMS changes

03/02/2026 Posted by Rachel

With the long awaited offshore Otway Basin drilling campaign finally underway, the Federal Minister for Resources the Hon Madeleine King announced on 11 December 2025 the release of five areas for work program bidding. Application bids on the five release areas is due 30 June 2026. A public consultation process in parallel is open until 6 February 2026. More on the acreage release and details on how to bid can be found at https://www.industry.gov.au/publications/2025-otway-offshore-petroleum-exploration-acreage-release

This petroleum exploration acreage release is the first since 2022 and the release of the Governments Future Gas Strategy in May 2024 .

Federation University closing Geology Course

09/12/2025 Posted by Rachel

The former Ballarat School of Mines, now Federation University, is abruptly closing its Geology course, mid-stream, leaving students marooned with their courses incomplete (ABC News).

Source: https://www.federation.edu.au/about/locations/ballarat/smb/

As highlighted by VIC/TAS PESA President Nick Hoffman, “This is the end of well over a century of geological teaching and marks the continued degradation of Australia's geoscience capacity at the same time as it is becoming apparent that minerals are not just stuff to dig up and sell but are the foundations of energy and commercial independence in an increasingly troubled world.

Natural hydrogen future to unfold with new drilling

09/12/2025 Posted by Rachel

Natural hydrogen pioneer Gold Hydrogen is aiming to gather enough information from its second round of drilling on its South Australia tenement to design a pilot project towards commercialisation of its hydrogen and helium assets.

The company was the first in Australia to drill natural hydrogen-specific exploration wells in 2023, confirming 100-year-old accidental finds of hydrogen by oil prospectors in the 1930s. It also discovered helium, a nice added value.

Armed with results from the 2023 drill program at two sites east of Minlaton, Ramsay 1 and 2, and having conducted an extensive regional 2D seismic survey since, Gold Hydrogen has identified up to three new well sites for its 2025-26 drill campaign.

Exploration Success in the Otway Basin

08/12/2025 Posted by Rachel

November saw the announcement from ConocoPhillips Australia and their JV partners, 3D Energi and Korea National Oil Corporation, the results of their recent drilling campaign in the Otway Basin. Read on below for their issued press release.

November 17th 2025:

ConocoPhillips Australia today announced a natural gas discovery in the Otway Basin (VIC/P79). Initial results from the Essington-1 well have detected the presence of natural gas in the two target reservoirs, Waarre A and Waarre C.

Preliminary estimates from logs and wireline results place the primary Waarre A target reservoir as a 62.6-metre gross hydrocarbon column.

Australia’s Energy Commodity Resources 2025 published by Geoscience Australia

10/11/2025 Posted by Rachel

Geoscience Australia’s latest edition of Australia’s Energy Commodity Resources (AECR) publication reinforces Australia’s position as a as a key global energy exporter and leader in emerging low carbon solutions.

Delivering a comprehensive assessment of the nation's emerging low-carbon technologies and non-renewable energy commodity resources, the 2025 edition shows the status of Australia’s energy resources as at the end of 2023 set against a backdrop of accelerating global decarbonisation, technological innovation, and shifting patterns of energy demand and trade.

For decades, Australia’s non-renewable resources have supported not only its own prosperity but also the economies of nations around the world.

Vp/Vs ratio conventional vs Web-AVO inversion

eFWI Using WEB-AVO at Delft Inversion

07/08/2025 Posted by Janny

By John Coffin

This year we have seen plenty of publicity and interest in elastic full waveform inversion, or eFWI and the potential benefits and advantages it can provide. At Delft Inversion we have been using eFWI for over 12 years focussing on quantitative interpretation and seismic reservoir characterisation. This article explains how and why we do this.

The eFWI technology developed at Delft Inversion is called WEB-AVO which stands for Wave Equation Based AVO inversion. So, what does this mean? We solve the integral representation of the wave equation.

Core Storage is at Capacity at the Exploration Data Centre in Zillmere, your Support is Needed!

12/06/2025 Posted by Janny

The Exploration Data Centre (EDC) in Zillmere, QLD is a cornerstone of Queensland's geoscientific infrastructure, preserving and providing access to an extensive collection of geological core samples and drill cuttings. These samples are fundamental to research, mineral and energy exploration, and long-term resource planning for the state. However, the facility is currently at or near full capacity, significantly limiting the ability to archive new sedimentary cores from exploration, appraisal and development programs.

At the Australian Energy Producers (AEP) Conference held in Brisbane from May 26–29, 2025, significant discussions centred on Queensland's oil and gas investment outlook.

Natural Hydrogen in Western Australia

09/03/2025 Posted by Helen

Leon Normore, Geological Survey of Western Australia

Abstract

The nascent field of natural hydrogen investigations is expanding rapidly worldwide. Recent studies in Australia have documented hydrogen in natural gas samples in both sedimentary basins and cratonic settings, and discussed multiple abiogenic sources for natural Hydrogen (Boreham et al., 2021a,b).