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PESA WA – The Mungaroo – Brigadier Depositional System, Northwest Shelf Australia: A Fluvial-Deltaic Reservoir Core Workshop

Name: PESA WA – The Mungaroo – Brigadier Depositional System, Northwest Shelf Australia: A Fluvial-Deltaic Reservoir Core Workshop
Start: 2025-10-03T09:00:00+08:00
End: 2025-10-03T16:00:00+08:00
Location: Carlisle core library

Friday, 3 October @ 9:00 am - 4:00 pm (Australia/Perth time)

$100.00 – $250.00

Guest Speaker(s): Professor Simon Lang, Tobi Payenberg and Brian Willis

Professor Simon Lang is the Australian National Geoscience Champion (2024), in recognition of his “major contribution to Australian Geoscience”, and has >40 years’ experience in sedimentology and stratigraphy. He is Director of the Centre for Energy Geoscience, School of Earth Sciences, University of Western Australia. He worked for 13 years at Chevron and Woodside Energy. He was Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide (Australian School of Petroleum), Lecturer at Queensland University of Technology, and worked for the Queensland Geological Survey. He is a University of Queensland graduate (BSc Hons & PhD), and member of PESA, AAPG, IAS & SEPM.

Tobi Payenberg has been fascinated by clastic rocks for nearly 30 years and learns something new about them every day. He was an Exploration Geologist with Nexen Inc (2002) and an Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide (2002-2007). 18 years ago, he moved to Chevron, where he is currently the reservoir characterisation advisor at Chevron Australia. He is also an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia and Associate Editor for the Journal of Sedimentary Research. Tobi graduated from the universities of Aachen (BSc), QUT (MSc) and Toronto (PhD) and is a member of SEPM & PESA.

Brian Willis has been studying the bedding architecture and preserved facies patterns within fluvial and shallow marine outcrop deposits for four decades. Brian has particular expertise in using process-based depositional models to understand 3D facies patterns better and in applying stratigraphic concepts and facies patterns to improve reservoir models for subsurface assessments. In the early part of his career, Brian held academic positions at the Smithsonian Institution, the University of Texas at Austin, and Texas A&M University. Later, he worked for 17 years as a research geologist at the Chevron Technology Center in Houston. He has a long history of leading industry and academic stratigraphy training courses and has an extensive publication record.

Supported by Santos Ltd.

PESA WA

3rd October 2025, 9:00 – 1600 Carlisle Core Library

The Mungaroo – Brigadier Depositional System, Northwest Shelf Australia: A Fluvial-Deltaic Reservoir Core Workshop

The Late Triassic Mungaroo and Brigadier Formations in the offshore Northern Carnarvon Basin, NWS, Australia, are the deposits of enormous very low-gradient rivers that fed an intracratonic basin. In such a very low gradient setting, the rivers expand across a broad distributive deltaic plain, as sediments spill out of channels into vast interdistributary bays. River distributaries reaching the coast deposit thin, asymmetrical wave-reworked delta sands. Avulsion of rivers laterally over hundreds of kilometres shifts the locus of deposition, allowing weak waves and tides time to rework sediments at bay mouths into shoreface sands with tidal inlets. Sea level variations can cause shorelines to shift long distances across these low-gradient alluvial-deltaic plains.

Standard facies models for fluvial-deltaic systems, which generally focus on higher gradient settings, do not provide a suitable template for predicting subsurface facies variations within the Mungaroo and Brigadier deposits. In higher gradient settings, a river crosses thin delta top deposits to feed a thick, basinward-thickening deltaic wedge, with the bulk of river-sourced sediments spread down steep deltaic clinoforms offshore. In very low-gradient settings, a river loses the competency to carry its sediment load to the coast, and the bulk of the sediment is extracted on the deltaic plains. Deposits in the expanding network of channels, on floodplain splays and brackish bay deltas, and within thin shoreline successions define a unique facies mosaic.

In this workshop, participants can observe the low-gradient fluvial-deltaic facies of the Mungaroo and Brigadier systems in core from the Northwest Shelf of Australia. Brief presentations will introduce conceptual models, set the stage, and provide a seismic-scale view of this system. Deposits of the major river in more proximal areas of the system are studied in core from Clio and Saty fields. Lower delta plain and river-dominated bay delta deposits are examined in core from Chandon field. Wave-reworked shoreline deposits will be visible in core from Wheatstone field. Together, these cores provide a sampling of the facies mosaic deposited by these low-gradient systems. By the end of the workshop, participants will have gained a better understanding of facies models for low-gradient fluvial-deltaic systems. Mungaroo and Brigadier deposits host world-class hydrocarbon reserves, which require advanced facies predictions to support subsurface modelling and development predictions. Low-gradient fluvial-deltaic facies are essential components of most shallow marine clastic wedges, particularly during the early highstand when deltaic systems prograde on top of transgressive shelf deposits. The workshop offers participants a broader perspective on fluvial-deltaic facies models, extending beyond the standard textbook examples.

Schedule

9:00 ─ Safety & Introductions

9:20 ─ Topic #1: Fluvial deposit architecture defined by process models and concepts (Willis: 20 min)

9:40 ─ Topic #2: Mungaroo-Brigadier System (Lang: 20 min)

10:00 ─ Topic #3: Mungaroo fluvial hierarchy and down-basin variations (Payenberg: 20 min)

10:30 ─ Tea break

10:45 ─ Start Core #1: Mungaroo fluvial (Clio 2 and Satyr 3)

11:45 ─ Discussion (core review)

12:00 ─ Lunch

12:45 ─ Short topic #1 (20 min plus Q&A) High- vs low-slope systems & asymmetric deltas

13:10 ─ Start core #2: Chandon 2 (Mungaroo lower delta plain and delta front)

14:00 ─ 14:15 ─ Tea break

14:30 ─ Start core #3: Wheatstone 2 BCH1ST1 (Brigadier asymmetric wave-influenced delta)

15:30 ─ Wrap-up discussion

15:45 ─ Finish

16:00 ─ Core store closes

Organisers: Dr. Brian Willis (Consultant) Dr. Tobi Payenberg (Chevron) & Prof. Simon Lang (UWA)

Hard limit of 30 attendees.

Cost:

PESA Members: $250

PESA Student Members $100

This event is for PESA WA members only. This is for insurance purposes. Please do not book on behalf of non-members. Please do not attend if you do not have a ticket.

If there are any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact: wa-secretary@pesa.com.au

Details

Date:: Friday, 3 October
Time:: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm; (Australia/Perth time)
Cost:: $100.00 – $250.00
Event Categories:: Discussion Forum, Industry, WA

Organiser

: PESA Western Australia
Email:: wa-secretary@pesa.com.au

Venue

Carlisle core library
37 Harris Street
Carlisle, WA 6101 Australia + Google Map

Registration Details

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