Integrating Stress and Strain Data from the North West Shelf, Australia: Implications for Hydrocarbon Seal Integrity. Many exploration wells in the Australian North West Shelf encounter residual columns from which hydrocarbons have leaked due to fault reactivation. Recently there has been a significant increase in our knowledge of contemporary stress (from data such as borehole breakouts)
and strain (from fault reactivation styles) on the North West Shelf.
This project will integrate informati ....Integrating Stress and Strain Data from the North West Shelf, Australia: Implications for Hydrocarbon Seal Integrity. Many exploration wells in the Australian North West Shelf encounter residual columns from which hydrocarbons have leaked due to fault reactivation. Recently there has been a significant increase in our knowledge of contemporary stress (from data such as borehole breakouts)
and strain (from fault reactivation styles) on the North West Shelf.
This project will integrate information on stress and strain in order to investigate whether the current state-of-stress is consistent with
observed reactivation styles, and thus develop predictive models for
fault reactivation and hydrocarbon leakage based on the distribution of
stress and strain.Read moreRead less
The neo- and seismo-tectonics of northwestern Australia. Australia's two largest earthquakes occurred in NW Australia (magnitudes 7 and 7.9 in 1941 and 1906). Onshore and offshore geologic evidence indicates other such events in recent geological history. Our present seismic database records no such events. We propose to document the nature, frequency, intensity, distribution and possible causes of seismicity in NW Australia, through deployment of seismograph arrays. We will test the effects ....The neo- and seismo-tectonics of northwestern Australia. Australia's two largest earthquakes occurred in NW Australia (magnitudes 7 and 7.9 in 1941 and 1906). Onshore and offshore geologic evidence indicates other such events in recent geological history. Our present seismic database records no such events. We propose to document the nature, frequency, intensity, distribution and possible causes of seismicity in NW Australia, through deployment of seismograph arrays. We will test the effects of basement reactivation, determine the crustal structure beneath the cratonic mass, examine onshore and offshore faults, determine local and regional stress orientations and investigate implications for petroleum production in the region, and whether natural resource extraction causes local seismicity.Read moreRead less
Dynamic Gas Permeability Investigations of Highly Stressed Coals. Coal Bed Methane (CBM) is an emerging energy resource in Australia, which has multi-billion dollar CBM reserves. Gas is clean burning, produces little greenhouse gas and almost no disruption to surface activities (like farming) during extraction. These environmental benefits, with low cost, make gas the fuel of choice for power and heat worldwide. This project seeks to assist development of CBM engineering from deep coal seams. Th ....Dynamic Gas Permeability Investigations of Highly Stressed Coals. Coal Bed Methane (CBM) is an emerging energy resource in Australia, which has multi-billion dollar CBM reserves. Gas is clean burning, produces little greenhouse gas and almost no disruption to surface activities (like farming) during extraction. These environmental benefits, with low cost, make gas the fuel of choice for power and heat worldwide. This project seeks to assist development of CBM engineering from deep coal seams. These contain the most gas, but are technically more difficult to develop than shallower reservoirs. In particular, it examines how natural and induced stress fields can be used to improve productivity, by understanding the relationships between different coal types, their environment and gas production rate.Read moreRead less