2024 PESA WEBINAR SERIES: Possible Compartmentalisation of the Kidson Sub-basin From New Geophysical Data, and Regional Projects in Western Australia

The Kidson Sub-basin of the southern Canning Basin has long been considered as a relatively simple sag deepening into its depositional axis, presumably in the central part of the sub-basin. This structural model is based on limited seismic coverage and well intersections near the flanks of the sub-basin, and is here tentatively revised following integrated mapping with new regional data.  The data integration reveals a possible east-northeast oriented basement ridge with a structural amplitude up to 1000 m in the central part of the Kidson Sub-basin. This ridge possibly divides the Kidson Sub-basin into two distinct parts and potentially is a significant feature with extensive implications for hydrocarbon, CO2 sequestration, natural hydrogen, helium and mineral prospectivities of the sub-basin. Although the basement ridge is supported by regional changes in depositional facies and marginal seismic data, the existence of such elevated feature remains highly uncertain in the absence of a seismic profile across the ridge. Further work is required to confirm its presence and de-risk exploration efforts.