Past Events › NSW

Hydrocarbons in a new early Paleocene sedimentary section recovered from the Campbell Plateau, south of New Zealand, by IODP Expedition 378 International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) expedition 378 “South Pacific Paleogene Climate” took place offshore New Zealand from January to February 2020. Expedition 378 recovered the first continuously cored, multiple-hole Paleogene sedimentary section from the southern Campbell Plateau at Site U1553. Coring at Site U1553 reached a maximum depth of 584.3 mbsf and recovered a 581.16 m long sedimentary succession…

Event cancelled Microbial enhancement of Coal Seam Gas reservoirs - A multi-disciplinary approach to enhance biogenic gas production In the subsurface, coal seams represent something of an oasis for microbial life. The environment is anoxic, warm, often wet and contains an abundant, but intractable source of carbon held in the organic matter of the coal. In eastern Australian coal seams, microbial community complexity depends on temperature with hotter, deeper coals typically hosting less diverse communities. Regardless, coal seam biodiversity ranges…

The Economic Realities of Hydrogen Hydrogen has the smallest atom for a potentially commercial gas. It is: 1/ highly volatile; 2/ presently very expensive to generate in commercial quantities; 3/ complex to transport safely; and 4/ been waiting well over 100 hundred years for its day in the “sun”. We will in 30 minutes (including questions) look at the reasons why hydrogen is being looked at as a partial substitution for methane and its hurdles that it faces over the…

Guyana - 10 billion barrels and counting In 2015 ExxonMobil discovered oil in the Stabroek Block in the deep water of Guyana, South America.  Subsequent discoveries have resulted in announced reserves of 10+ billion barrels. First oil commenced in December 2019 with a second development coming on line this February. Current production capacity is 340,000 barrels per day. This talk will describe - The rationale for the pursuit of this opportunity in 1997 - A detailed review of the Lisa…

Microbial enhancement of Coal Seam Gas reservoirs - A multi-disciplinary approach to enhance biogenic gas production. In the subsurface, coal seams represent something of an oasis for microbial life. The environment is anoxic, warm, often wet and contains an abundant, but intractable source of carbon held in the organic matter of the coal. In eastern Australian coal seams, microbial community complexity depends on temperature with hotter, deeper coals typically hosting less diverse communities. Regardless, coal seam biodiversity ranges from approximately…

Overpressure release: Fluid inclusion evidence for a new mechanism for the formation of heavy oil Heavy oils in sedimentary basins are commonly related to biodegradation and water washing, and thermal degradation of sulfur-rich kerogen at an early hydrocarbon generation stage. However, the potential for overpressure release to form heavy oil has been seldom considered and rarely demonstrated. Paragenetic sequences of diagenetic and oil charge events, pressure-temperature-composition (P-T-x) evolutionary history reconstruction, and molecular geochemical data from a single generation of oil…