Cooper Basin
Encyclopedia
The Cooper Basin is a sedimentary geological basin in Australia
. The basin is located mainly in the north-east part of South Australia
and extends into south-west Queensland
. It is named after the Cooper Creek
which is an ephemeral river that runs into Lake Eyre
. Part of the Cooper Basin is overlayed by the Eromanga Basin
. It covers 130,000 km².
The surface of the Cooper Basin is mostly desert, including parts of the Simpson Desert
, the Channel Country
and Sturt Stony Desert. Oil and gas exploration of the basin began in 1962.
and natural gas
deposits in Australia
The oil and gas window is located 1,250 m below the surface and was originally discovered in the 1960s (although there are larger oil and gas deposits off-shore). The first commercial discovery of gas occurred in 1963. It includes Australia's largest onshore oil field
, the Jackson
oil field. This field was discovered in 1981. Pipelines transport gas to the major markets of Brisbane
, Adelaide
and Sydney
. Overall about 1,800 petroleum wells have been drilled.
The largest producer in the basin is Santos Limited with its main production facility at Moomba, South Australia
. The oil and gas deposits in the Cooper Basin tend to be fairly small and fragmentary. Overall there are 160 gas field
s and 75 oil field
s in production containing about 630 producing gas wells and more than 340 producing oil wells. There are many small listed companies exploring for additional deposits in the region. Some of these companies are AKK - Austin Exploration Limited, Cooper Energy, Beach Petroleum Limited
, Senex Energy, Innamincka Petroleum, Magellan, Impress Energy and many others.
up to magnitude 3.7 were observed.
created "around 300 million years ago." Its discovery by scientist Tonguç Uysal was revealed in October 2010. The crater's "minimum diameter is 80 km", making it one of the largest of Australia's 30 to 50 known or suspected craters.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The basin is located mainly in the north-east part of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
and extends into south-west Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
. It is named after the Cooper Creek
Cooper Creek
Cooper Creek is one of the most famous and yet least visited rivers in Australia. It is sometimes known as the Barcoo River from one of its tributaries and is one of three major Queensland river systems that flow into the Lake Eyre Basin...
which is an ephemeral river that runs into Lake Eyre
Lake Eyre
Lake Eyre is the lowest point in Australia, at approximately below sea level, and, on the rare occasions that it fills, it is the largest lake in Australia and 18th largest in the world...
. Part of the Cooper Basin is overlayed by the Eromanga Basin
Eromanga Basin
The Eromanga Basin is a large Mesozoic sedimentary basin in central and northern Australia. It covers parts of Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia, and New South Wales, and is a major component of the Great Artesian Basin...
. It covers 130,000 km².
The surface of the Cooper Basin is mostly desert, including parts of the Simpson Desert
Simpson Desert
The Simpson Desert is a large area of dry, red sandy plain and dunes in Northern Territory, South Australia and Queensland in central Australia. It is the fourth largest Australian desert, with an area of 176,500 km² ....
, the Channel Country
Channel Country
The Channel Country is region of outback Australia located mostly in the state of Queensland but also in portions of South Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales. The name comes from the numerous intertwined rivulets that cross the region, which cover 150,000 km²...
and Sturt Stony Desert. Oil and gas exploration of the basin began in 1962.
Oil and natural gas
The Cooper Basin is the location of the most important on-shore petroleumPetroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
and natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
deposits in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
The oil and gas window is located 1,250 m below the surface and was originally discovered in the 1960s (although there are larger oil and gas deposits off-shore). The first commercial discovery of gas occurred in 1963. It includes Australia's largest onshore oil field
Oil field
An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...
, the Jackson
Jackson, Queensland
Jackson is a town in the Maranoa Local government area in Queensland, Australia. The town was based around the rail industry. At the 2006 census, Jackson had a population of 171.Australia's largest onshore oil field is located at Jackson...
oil field. This field was discovered in 1981. Pipelines transport gas to the major markets of Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
and Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. Overall about 1,800 petroleum wells have been drilled.
The largest producer in the basin is Santos Limited with its main production facility at Moomba, South Australia
Moomba, South Australia
Moomba is a Santos-owned gas exploration and processing town located in the Cooper and Eromanga Basins, in central Australia, approximately 770 kilometres north of Adelaide....
. The oil and gas deposits in the Cooper Basin tend to be fairly small and fragmentary. Overall there are 160 gas field
Natural gas field
Oil and natural gas are produced by the same geological process according fossil fuel suggestion: anaerobic decay of organic matter deep under the Earth's surface. As a consequence, oil and natural gas are often found together...
s and 75 oil field
Oil field
An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...
s in production containing about 630 producing gas wells and more than 340 producing oil wells. There are many small listed companies exploring for additional deposits in the region. Some of these companies are AKK - Austin Exploration Limited, Cooper Energy, Beach Petroleum Limited
Beach Petroleum Limited
Beach Energy Limited is an oil and gas exploration and production company based in Adelaide, Australia. It is a component of the S&P/ASX 200 index of major Australian companies.Beach was established in 1961, however for many years it was not very successful...
, Senex Energy, Innamincka Petroleum, Magellan, Impress Energy and many others.
Geothermal
Within the basin exploration companies have conducted extensive research to discover if the area is appropriate for large-scale production. They have drilled and measured the temperature in many holes, estimating that hot granite rocks at 3.5 km deep are 240°C. The Cooper Basin has been selected for the site of a geothermal project, because these rocks are the hottest in the world at economic drilling depths and away from volcanoes. During reservoir stimulation in 2003, induced micro-seismic eventsInduced seismicity
Induced seismicity refers to typically minor earthquakes and tremors that are caused by human activity that alters the stresses and strains on the Earth's crust. Most induced seismicity is of an extremely low magnitude...
up to magnitude 3.7 were observed.
Impact crater
The Basin hides an impact craterImpact crater
In the broadest sense, the term impact crater can be applied to any depression, natural or manmade, resulting from the high velocity impact of a projectile with a larger body...
created "around 300 million years ago." Its discovery by scientist Tonguç Uysal was revealed in October 2010. The crater's "minimum diameter is 80 km", making it one of the largest of Australia's 30 to 50 known or suspected craters.