PESA SA‑NT Research & Scholarship Prizes NOW OPEN — $1,000 and $1,500! Click On Scholarships to Apply — DEADLINE 19 Feb 2026

Qld

Cooper-Eromanga Basin: New Exploration Areas Awarded

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On January 29, the Queensland Government announced the appointment of Santos QNT Pty Ltd and Drillsearch Energy Pty Ltd (a 100% subsidiary of Beach Energy) as preferred tenderers for three new gas exploration areas in the Cooper-Eromanga Basins, aimed at boosting supply, reducing energy prices, and supporting regional jobs. 

Both Santos and Drillsearch (Beach) have a strong track record of exploration and delivery in the Cooper-Eromanga Basins. Santos holds a dominant and long-standing tenure position in the basin operating the South Australian Cooper Basin Joint Venture (SACBJV) with partners Beach Energy.

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PESA QLD: Combined Oil and Gas Christmas Party 2025

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The Queensland oil and gas industry came together in early December to celebrate the year’s achievements at the Combined Oil and Gas Christmas Party 2025 – an annual event hosted by the societies ASEG, PESA, SPE, QEC and QUPEX.

Held at Blackbird Bar, Dining & Events, attendees gathered in a riverside setting to reflect on the year, reconnect with colleagues and strengthen ties across the Queensland oil and gas community. The strong turnout and positive atmosphere marked a confident close to the year as the sector looks forward to a successful 2026.

Guests enjoyed an evening of celebration against the stunning Brisbane River backdrop.

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2026 PESA-QLD Scholarship Applications Close Friday Feb 27

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Calling all students at Queensland Tertiary Institutions - if you are studying for an energy geosciences industry-related honours or Master of Science project applications are now open for the 2026 PESA Qld Scholarship.

The scholarship consists of the award of $2,500 to the successful recipient as part of PESA-QLD’s commitment to promote and encourage subsurface energy geoscience research and education at Queensland Tertiary Institutions.

The selection criteria are based on academic achievement and project relevance to the energy geosciences industry.

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Bookings Open – Barry Goldstein Medal Lecture Tour

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Our worthy winner of the 2025 Barry Goldstein Medal, Dr Bruce Ainsworth, begins his lecture tour shortly generously sponsored by Santos. Over 5 weeks, he will visit each state branch and give his presentation "Honouring the Humble Clinoform: Towards a Reservoir Modelling Best Practice". Bruce is an excellent geologist and engaging presenter so attendees are in for a treat. Bookings for these events are now live on the website.

The Barry Goldstein Medal was created by PESA to recognise the value of innovation, collaboration and communication in Energy Geoscience as we pursue a clean sustainable energy future.

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PESA QLD Welcome Dr Brian Willis

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PESA Queensland were thrilled to host Dr Brian Willis for an evening lecture on his whistle-stop tour of the Australian states and territories.

Dr Willis is a recognised expert on fluvial systems, with more than four decades spent studying the sedimentology and stratigraphic organisation of these depositional systems.  This time, his focus was on the terminal end of the system with three-dimensional architecture of wave-dominated delta deposits the topic of the presentation.

Dr Willis, and his co-authors Tao Sun and Bruce Ainsworth, are using numerical models to challenge long-held rational for interpreting sea level variations in wave-dominated shallow-marine successions.

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PESA Symposium 2025 – Juggling the Energy Mix

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Symposium Chair Melanie Fitzell and the Queensland branch committee delivered another successful one-day symposium on Monday 1st September at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The conference opening address was delivered by the Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, the Honourable Dale Last, who closed his speech with the words: “you drill, I sign”. This was followed by a Keynote address from Darren Moor, Executive Director Georesources from the same department, and a final Keynote from industry stalwart Rick Wilkinson of Energy Quest “Energy plan or just muddling through?”. 

A technical session featuring CCS and geothermal followed morning tea, three top quality presentations from Nikki Accornero (Accornero Advisory), Rachel Kieft (Santos) and Ray Johnson and Heinz-Gerd Holl (Novus).

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PESA Qld Technical Talk: Exploring for Hydrogen

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The Queensland branch July meeting returned to the Port Office Hotel for an interesting talk on Hydrogen exploration from Dr Josh Whitcombe, VP of Development and Operations at HyTerra.

Josh took time to introduce the audience to the different types of hydrogen and where they might be found. He then dived into more detail about the exploration and appraisal work Hyterra are doing at their Nemaha Project in Kansas, USA.

Nemaha is located between Kansas City and Wichita in the centre of a major industrial and manufacturing hub.

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PESA Queensland Welcomes New Branch Executive

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In June, PESA Queensland held their AGM and welcomed a new executive to lead the branch committee.  

Sue Slater – President

Sue takes on the role of President for the second time, having previously served in the role from 2009-2014. A familiar face to those in Queensland, she has been involved with the branch committee since 2007, organising the technical event program and the annual Symposium through this time. Sue was awarded the PESA Distinguished Member award in 2017 and the Exceptional Woman in Exploration in Qld Resources award in 2019.

Sue knew she wanted to be a geologist at a young age, and studied geology at University of Queensland achieving an MSc qualification.

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PESA QLD Lunch with Brendon Mitchell

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The Queensland branch technical meeting for May was a presentation from Brendon Mitchell, Chief Geophysisct and Managing Director of Oceania Geo. PESA Queensland were pleased to welcome members of the Queensland ASEG branch to the event to hear about the challenges of seismic acquisition in New Zealand, during covid.

Brendon has significant experience working across New Zealand and Australia, with a focus on onshore data acquisition for unconventional and tight gas exploration and development.

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