Australasia

Is helium the bonus or the business?

Gold Hydrogen started exploration on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia on the back of a legacy hydrocarbon well. They had a clear lead on hydrogen, but they also found exceptionally high helium concentrations. An independent commercial assessment now indicates…

Movement towards a mining moratorium

Mining in international waters is a hotly debated topic. One of the discussion points is environmental concerns about the effect of mining on the unique and poorly understood abyssal plain ecosystem. The Deep-Sea Conservation Coalition (DSCC) is passionate about protecting…

Too early to declare a commercial success

Australia’s Gold Hydrogen was one of the earliest movers in the hunt for natural hydrogen: taking up acreage in South Australia, raising funds and drilling a number of exploration wells. Its two earliest wells, Ramsay-1 and -2 drilled in late…

How structural setting and hydrocarbon phase are closely related

The Papuan Basin is located across a tectonically active area and is dominated by a gas-prone Jurassic petrole­um system with a whole-of-system Gas-Liquid Ratio of 30,000 scf/bbl. The complex geology, coupled with a steep and karstified surface terrain, re­sults in…

Exploration in the vast marine expanse of Oceania

Texas-based Palau Pacific Ener­gy (PPE) is the operator of the North Block Concession, off the northern part of the Re­public of Palau, east of the Philippines, and is planning the first wildcat drilled in Oceania for a while. Palau saw…

Offshore Otway Basin drilling campaign

Stratigraphic column of the Otway Basin, Australia. Source: NVentures. The Otway Basin, offshore Victoria and Tasmania, is undergoing a significant drilling campaign, using the Transocean Equinox semi-submersible rig, aimed at bolstering Australia’s domestic gas supply. This initiative seeks to address…

The hidden lithium treasure of South Australia

Despite receiving just 165 mm of rain annu­ally, Coopers Creek flows year-round, an anomaly that has lured generations of explorers in pre-history to early Euro­pean settlers. Exploration by geologist Reg Sprigg, founder of Santos and Beach Energy, led to drill­ing…

Open for business, again

“We have to inject life back into the economy and avoid de-industrialisation,” said Shane Jones during a webinar yesterday, hosted by Ross Compton from the EnerGeo Alliance. Mr Jones is not a random member of the public interviewed and asked…

“The day I cut an 88 ft core of top seal”

“LinkedIn seems to be the place to brag about your career successes,” says Luke Johnson from TRACS International in this video. But sometimes, it is things that went wrong that can teach so much more. That certainly applies to the…

Building a reservoir model for a geothermal field

The first well in the Ohaaki geothermal field in New Zealand was drilled in 1965. However, it lasted until 1989 before power production really started, even though large-scale testing of wells had taken place before the commissioning of the 116…

Developing the Kuda Tasi and Jahal discoveries offshore Timor-Leste

Continuing the exploration and development success of the Laminaria High In 2024, Finder Energy underwent a transformational change, acquiring the rights to develop several oil discoveries on the Laminaria High in the northernmost Bonaparte Basin, Timor-Leste. Previously, the successful global…