--> Fifty Years Since Australia's First Offshore Oil and Gas Discovery: Key Elements for Success in the Early Exploration of the Gippsland Basin

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Fifty Years Since Australia's First Offshore Oil and Gas Discovery: Key Elements for Success in the Early Exploration of the Gippsland Basin

Abstract

The Gippsland Basin is often regarded as the birthplace of the modern oil and gas industry in Australia. It is also a basin of firsts for the local industry; first offshore well, first offshore gas discovery, first offshore oil discovery, first offshore oil and gas development, first platform, first 3D seismic, first subsea completion etc. So it is timely then, and in keeping with this year's conference theme of ‘A Powerhouse Emerges: Energy For The Next 50 Years’, that we revisit the history of exploration and development of the Gippsland Basin and look at what were the key elements that led to the success and longevity particularly of the Esso-BHP Gippsland Basin Joint Venture (GBJV). In December 1964 the Gippsland Shelf-1 well, later renamed Barracouta-1, was spudded by the GBJV which was a 50–50 joint venture between Hematite Explorations Pty Ltd (later to become BHP Billiton) and Esso Exploration Australia Inc (a subsidiary of ExxonMobil). Success followed quickly with discovery of gas at the top of the Latrobe Valley Formation. Achieving success in the first well in a new frontier region defied all the odds in exploration. Additional success soon followed with the discovery of the Marlin field – the largest gas field in south eastern Australia. However, it was the discovery of a thin oil leg at Marlin that was the harbinger of what to come with the discovery of Australia's largest oil fields at Kingfish and Halibut in 1967. Importantly, the Marlin-1 well also discovered the first significant intra-Latrobe hydrocarbon accumulation which was later renamed Turrum. Fifty years on the same GBJV is undertaking full field development of the complex Turrum oil and gas field as part of the integrated Kipper Tuna Turrum (KTT) development project. Many of the elements that led ultimately to the discovery of hydrocarbons in Gippsland are the same elements that are required for success today; seeing it early, the right rocks in the right place, an aligned joint venture, technology application and Government support. The ground work that underpinned the successful exploration and development of offshore oil and gas in the Gippsland Basin was laid down by the vision of the early explorers, businessmen and Government. The GBJV has become one of the most successful and enduring joint ventures in the history of the Australian oil and gas industry.