*** Stay informed about the topics that matter to you. Update your PESA email subscriptions in your Email Preferences. ***

SA/NT

PESA SA Field Trip: The Adelaide Hills Finally Make Sense?

Posted by Rachel

by Alex Ross, PESA SA/NT Branch

On Sunday 19th July, PESA SA enjoyed a field trip led by David Grybowski to explore the fascinating geology of the Adelaide Hills. Rescheduled from a rain-soaked May date, the day delivered near-perfect weather for the 56km self-drive route from Morialta Gorge to Norton Summit, Mount Lofty and Chambers Gully.

Across six stops and eight drive-by points of interest, participants pieced together the folds, faults and formations of the Adelaide Hills, with David orientating each outcrop against the road network to help the landscape make more sense.

READ MORE

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

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.

READ MORE

Cooper Basin – seismic processing & where it leads

Posted by Rachel

By Paul Strong, SA/NT Branch President

On 30 April 2026 the PESA SA/NT Branch held a joint meeting with the ASEG, listening to an interesting talk by consultant Peter Strauss regarding the processing of seismic data in the Cooper Basin, a topic that would be expected to be well known.

Peter challenged the conventions on seismic processing onshore Australia, with modern land 3D seismic datasets often not being fit-for-purpose when targeting smaller-scale structures, with some wells probably not having been drilled in the right place.

READ MORE

Update on Gold Hydrogen’s drilling on the Yorke Peninsula

Posted by Rachel

By David Spence, Beach Energy

On 28 May 2026 the PESA SA/NT Branch received a fascinating talk on the technical geological side of hydrogen exploration from industry leader Peter Buberndorfer, Chief Geologist of pioneering hydrogen exploration company Gold Hydrogen. 

The attendees were taken on a 2-billion-year ride through the regional geology of South Australia.  Peter discussed the regional Proterozoic strata that are favourable for hydrogen generation along the boundary of the Gawler Craton.

READ MORE

Omega Oil and Gas and the Taroom Trough Story

Posted by Rachel

The PESA SA/NT Branch welcomed Trevor Brown and Nathan Parker to give 36 members an update on Omega’s activity in the Taroom Trough, onshore Queensland.

Trevor introduced the company and gave an overview of the geology of the Bowen Basin, and this was followed by Nathan giving a very interesting history of the oil and gas industry in the region which started in the late 1800s.

READ MORE

PESA/SPE Golf Day 2026

Posted by Rachel

The 45rd Annual South Australian PESA/SPE Golf Day was held on Friday the 27th of March 2026, at the Flagstaff Hill Golf Club. The Golf Day attracted ninety golfers with more than 100 people attending the evening festivities and prize presentations. It was another successful fundraising event for the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). 

During the day the various par three holes organised competitions to raise funds for the RFDS, including putting competition organised by Stuart Jones, landing on the green, consumption of traditional Mexican chilly and still landing on the green (organized by Desert City, hole 9), and the traditional Tiger Tee competition on Hole 7 (organised by Ensign).

READ MORE

PESA SA Welcome Aike Albers

Posted by Rachel

The Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia (SA/NT) branch kicked off the new year technical program on 26 February 2026 with two presentations for the 27 attendees at Ayers House!

The meeting was kicked-off by PhD candidate Aike Albers of Adelaide University, the PESA 2025 Horstmann Scholarship recipient. He introduced his PhD topic, Evaluating the feasibility of permanent carbon sequestration in mafic reservoirs in the Bass Basin, work focussed on assessing the suitability of basalts for carbon dioxide storage. Our president Paul Strong presented Aike with his certificate and we wish him well for his studies.

READ MORE

2026 HICCup Tournament

Posted by Rachel

The HICCup (Hydrocarbon Industry Cricket Cup) tournament has been played and won for 2026.  The tournament has been a staple of the oil and gas industry in Adelaide since the late seventies with 2026 possibly being the 46th year of competition.  This year the trophy made a long-awaited appearance, to be handed to the winning team.

The competition was established as a way of giving ex-pat industry workers an opportunity to experience a fully organized cricket match, with all the equipment, in a social and fun atmosphere.

READ MORE

The 2025 PESA SA/NT core workshop, a fresh look at South Australia’s eastern Warburton Basin, Daralingie Shelf Area

Posted by Rachel

Author | Chris Cubitt: Geological Survey of South Australia

Chris Cubitt of the Geological Survey South Australia (GSSA), hosted the 2026 PESA SA/NT core workshop at the SA Drill Core Library on Friday November 21st, 2025, (Fig. 1). This year’s event was well attended by industry, government and academia focussing on the eastern Warburton Basin (Daralingie Shelf area) with the aim to produce a quick look GDE map and form an opinion on the basin’s prospectivity.

READ MORE