The Minister for Resources and Energy, Martin Ferguson AM MP, today released new data from Geoscience Australia which will create opportunities for Australia's petroleum exploration industry and the possibility of new oil and gas discoveries to supply Australia's and Western Australia's energy needs in the future.
The release of pre-competitive seismic data and seafloor mapping studies of frontier areas off Australia's west coast - including some of the extended continental shelf acquired in 2008 - will inform the petroleum acreage release process for 2010 and future years, and result in new exploration well beyond existing horizons.
Just as Australia has been built on the back of intermittent resources booms for the last 160 years, we need to have an eye out now for the new oil, gas and minerals provinces that will provide for the next 160 years.
It is well-known that greenfield mineral and petroleum exploration is falling compared to total exploration expenditure - at just the time we need to be replenishing our stock of economically-viable resources for the long-term.
That's why Geoscience Australia's pre-competitive work to reduce exploration risk is so important - to give Australia an edge in attracting capital to what is a high risk industry.
Geoscience Australia's most stunning example of the success of pre-competitive geoscience is in the Browse Basin where the results of a $2 million study in 1996/97 encouraged INPEX to take up exploration acreage in 1998, leading to the proving up of the giant Ichthys gas/condensate field which contains around 12.8 trillion cubic feet of gas and the largest liquids discovery since the 1960s.
Minister Ferguson said: "Australia is one of only three net energy-exporting nations in the OECD.
"However, Australia presently has a $16 billion trade deficit in crude oil, refined products and LPG, and this could rise to over $30 billion by 2015.
"While we are a country rich in coal, gas and uranium resources, our energy security will be greatly enhanced if we are successful in opening up new oil frontiers and can reduce our dependence on imports."
Global oil production is increasingly concentrated in less stable regions of the world.
Here in Australia, oil production comes from just seven major fields and our oil and condensate production dropped by more than 40 per cent between 2000 and 2009.
Minister Ferguson said: "Western Australia would benefit from more domestic gas supply and competition, and if we can discover gas closer to demand centres in the southwest, it could be less expensive to produce and get to market and that will be good for households and good for value-adding industry development."
Speaking to an industry gathering in Perth, Minister Ferguson said the seismic reflection data was obtained in both under-explored and unexplored areas offshore extending from the southern tip of Western Australia at Cape Leeuwin to as far north as Exmouth.
The survey acquired about 7,300 kilometres of seismic reflection data from the Mentelle Basin off Bunbury, the Zeewyck and Houtman sub-basins within the Perth Basin, the Carnarvon Basin and the Wallaby Plateau.
More than 11,700 kilometres of existing seismic data was also reprocessed to provide information which will enhance understanding of the region's geology.
The survey is the first since the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf recommended Australia's Continental Shelf be extended by 2.56 million square kilometres, making it possible to gather valuable data on the unexplored Wallaby Plateau.
Results obtained in the Mentelle Basin and the Houtman and Zeewyck Sub-basins have in-filled significant data gaps to provide a uniform dataset across the region and now ensure industry has high quality information to evaluate exploration potential.
Minister Ferguson said: "These surveys play a vital role in supporting the Australian Government's efforts to secure investment in energy resources for the future and create a strong economic outlook for all Australians.
"While this survey will be the last new data acquisition under the Offshore Energy Security Program and the New Petroleum Program, Geoscience Australia's focus over the next year will be to mine and reprocess the significant data it has now collected to extract as much value as possible and strategically target future work programs to enhance Australia's long-term energy security."