exploration of New Zealand’s deepwater frontier The New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is the 4th largest in the world at about GNS Science Petroleum Research Newsletter 4 million square kilometres or about half the land area of Australia. The Legal Continental February 2008 Shelf claim presently before the United Nations, may add another 1.7 million square kilometres to New Zealand’s jurisdiction. About 30 percent of the EEZ is underlain by sedimentary basins that may be thick enough to generate and trap petroleum. Although introduction small to medium sized discoveries continue to be made in New Zealand, big oil has so far This informal newsletter is produced to tell the eluded the exploration companies. industry about highlights in petroleum-related research at GNS Science. We want to inform Exploration of the New Zealand EEZ has you about research that is going on, and barely started. Deepwater wells will be provide useful information for your operations. drilled in the next few years and encouraging We welcome your opinions and feedback. results would kick start the New Zealand deepwater exploration effort. Research Petroleum research at GNS Science efforts have identified a number of other potential petroleum basins around New Our research programme on New Zealand's Zealand, including the Pegasus Sub-basin, Petroleum Resources receives $2.4M p.a. of basins in the Outer Campbell Plateau, the government funding, through the Foundation of deepwater Solander Basin, the Bellona Basin Research Science and Technology (FRST), between the Challenger Plateau and Lord and is one of the largest research programmes in GNS Science. The funding runs from July 2003 to June 2009. The Howe Rise, the New Caledonia Basin broad scope of the research is outlined on the following link: http://www.gns.cri.nz/research/programmes.html#sufficiency beyond deepwater Taranaki and the Reinga Basin to the northwest of Northland. More detail on the research is contained in additional links on that page. The first to be investigated will probably be For a list of research outputs and publications in recent years, contact Peter King at [email protected] . the Pegasus Sub- basin at the southern end of the East Coast Basin. This region lies east of Cook Strait and north of the Chatham Rise in water depths of 500 to 3000 metres. Its area is at least 40,000 square kilometres, although its ultimate Find out more size is unknown. The Pegasus Sub-basin overlies the transition from subduction along the East Coast of North Island to strike-slip motion through South Island. The single deep penetration seismic line that crosses the region shows To find out more about current petroleum research at GNS Science, check our constantly-changing website, Cretaceous and Paleogene sequences dipping below Neogene turbidite deposits up to 5 kilometres thick. Crown www.gns.cri.nz/hydrocarbons , or contact our scientists directly by sending an e-mail to [email protected] . You Minerals are planning to acquire a broad reconnaissance 2D survey across the Pegasus Sub-basin within the next year. can discuss with us about how to get involved in the research, including how to leverage government funds for research topics of particular interest to you. The future for deepwater exploration in New Zealand is exciting but by no means assured. While any one of the above basins could contain the volumes of oil and gas that could transform the New Zealand economy, it is ultimately up to exploration companies to decide whether potential rewards are worth the risk of finding out. At the same time, the New Get involved in ensuring this research capability Zealand government has led the charge by acquiring basic data across several basins and has successfully attracted new entrants into the country. What follows should be of great interest to the whole exploration community. GNS Science undertakes commissioned consultancy work for virtually all petroleum exploration companies in New Zealand. What is perhaps not appreciated, is that the expertise, capacity and databases behind this commercial work is Contact Chris Uruski ( [email protected] ) or listen to his talks at the upcoming NZPC, APPEA, and EABS conferences under-pinned by the injection of government funding, which allows our research capability to be maintained. GNS Science for a cook’s tour of the NZ deepwater frontier. will be re-bidding for new research funding later this year, for start-up in July 2009. Given the government’s current energy strategy, and the fact that the allocation of funding is highly competitive, there can be no guarantee that the petroleum research programme will continue. Our research proposals will be strengthened enormously however, if we GNS Science at upcoming conferences have backing from industry. There are many ways that you can show support for the research and help to demonstrate its relevance to government funders. We are seeking comment, advocacy and steering from industry on the scope and priorities of required future research. What topics do you see as key areas? Where should we be concentrating our Meet us at the New Zealand Petroleum Conference in Auckland (Booths 24 and 25), and the APPEA conference in Perth research efforts to help you find New Zealand's petroleum resources? We would particularly welcome direct involvement (Booth 7 and 8). The Eastern Australian Basins Symposium in Sydney in September 2008 will be another big event for though co-funding and in-kind contributions (such as provision of data). us. See us at Booth 28. Contact Peter King ( [email protected] ) with comments or for more information. contact us carbon capture and storage Please contact us for no-obligation www.gns.cri.nz/hydrocarbons GNS Science technical advice on how our 1 Fairway Drive, Avalon Geological storage of CO is one of the hottest topics in geoscience world-wide. GNS Science is contributing to a +64 4 570 1444 2 specialists can help with your P O Box 30 368, Lower Hutt 5040 baseline study on the feasibility of carbon capture and underground storage in New Zealand as a mechanism for reducing exploration. New Zealand [email protected] our greenhouse gas emissions. We are about halfway through a separate 17-month FRST-funded programme that used the same expertise as required in the petroleum sector. The research will help major CO 2 emitters and government to 12 [email protected] www.gns.cri.nz 1 develop implementation policy and mitigation strategies and will pave the way for pilot-scale projects to capture carbon journal-style papers. Standardised statistical data includes net to gross, bed lengths, thicknesses, texture and aspect dioxide and store it in deep geological formations. The project is a collaboration between three organisations, each ratios. The atlas is not only focused on the sand geometries in the outcrops but also the shale architecture, which is providing specialist expertise: GNS Science (petroleum geology, reservoir architecture, and geological risk), CRL Energy important for understanding baffles and barriers in deepwater reservoirs. There is a uniform presentation format of the (coal science and advanced technologies) and the University of Auckland (numerical reservoir modelling). various outcrops via photomosaics, lithologic sections, detailed facies and architectural element descriptions. The atlas is one of the largest on a single geologic topic that has been published. Below is an example page from Taranaki. The programme is assessing the possibilities for subsurface storage of CO 2 in the Waikato and onshore Taranaki regions. Potential storage options being evaluated include coal seams, deep aquifers, depleted oil and gas fields, and potential enhanced oil and gas recovery projects. Desktop overview studies for onshore storage are almost complete. We are also investigating a small offshore region west of the Manukau Lowlands as a potential storage region for emissions from the Huntly Power Station and Glenbrook steel mill. Our studies on risk assessment, capture, transport, injection, monitoring and verification are continuing. In the first half of 2008, a panel of international experts will review the work we have completed to date. At the end of the project, we will rank potential storage sites for suitability. A longer-term goal is to develop a proof-of-concept demonstration CO 2 storage site in New Zealand. Contact Rob Funnell ( [email protected] ) for more information. digital Taranaki In the mid 1990’s, a series of structural and paleogeographic maps of the Taranaki Basin were constructed from available seismic and well data by GNS Science. This product, called the "Taranaki Atlas", is a benchmark reference for overview assessment of petroleum prospectivity of the basin. We are now undertaking a major, multi-year initiative, called the Seismic Facies Mapping Project, to develop a revised and fully digital atlas of the structure, stratigraphy and paleogeography of the Taranaki Basin. This integrated project will draw upon a wealth of newly-available data, to create up-dated interpretations of seismic sequences, calibrated to lithology, age, and paleo- bathymetry in wells and outcrop. As part of the project, seismic interpretations are being For more information, please contact Peter King ( [email protected] ). validated by structural restoration of selected regional transects along composite 2D seismic lines. The long term goal of the project is to create a rigorous geological framework for the next generation of 4D petroleum system models of the Taranaki Basin. new student projects To date, we have been focusing offshore, with an initial emphasis on creating a standardised seismic and well database. The offshore data set comprises over 2,500 2D lines, several 3D surveys and 60 wells, compiled using open-file data We currently have a number of students doing PhD and MSc studies in conjunction with GNS studies or under part- from Crown Minerals and proprietary data contributed by the New Zealand exploration industry.