--> Abstract: The Southern Gippsland Basin: Emerging from a Blinkered Past, by A. E. Stephenson, J. R. Conolly, M. Megallaa, and P. E. Williamson; #91012 (1992).

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ABSTRACT: The Southern Gippsland Basin: Emerging from a Blinkered Past

STEPHENSON, ANTHONY E., Bureau of Mineral Resources, Canberra, Australia, JOHN R. CONOLLY, J.R. Conolly Consultants, Sydney, Australia, MAHER MEGALLAA, Victorian Department of Manufacturing and Industry Development, Melbourne, Australia, and PAUL E. WILLIAMSON, Bureau of Mineral Resources, Canberra, Australia

Conventional geologic wisdom can be as great a disincentive to exploration as any physical environment of exploration. The southern margin of the Gippsland basin is a frontier area despite its proximity to Australia's largest known oil fields. "Everybody knew" that Gippsland basin hydrocarbons are generated only from Latrobe Group sediments in the basin's Central Deep, and migrate to the north and west following the broad structural grain of the Latrobe Group sedimentary section.

Following decades of exploration neglect, the southern margin of the Gippsland basin is now emerging as a highly prospective region, as conventional wisdom is reassessed. Thick Strzelecki Group sediments, conventionally regarded as unprospective, lie within the oil window near the southern margin, and known hydrocarbons in the area are now thought to have migrated vertically from Strzelecki Group sources into Latrobe Group traps. All indications are that trap formation preceded the main period of oil generation and migration.

A large number of structures have been identified in the southern margin area--undrilled to date because of their distance and direction from the known Central Deep hydrocarbon kitchen. Analysis of those wells that have been drilled in the area suggests nearly all were drilled off-structure. In addition, stratigraphic plays along the southern Gippsland margin remain virtually untested and are thought to have considerable potential. The southern margin of the Gippsland basin is likely to emerge as a major new exploration target in the near future.

 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91012©1992 AAPG Annual Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 22-25, 1992 (2009)