| HILLSBOROUGH BASIN |
| State(s) |
Queensland |
| Area (km2)
|
Offshore
|
2350 |
|
Onshore
|
250 |
| Maximum thickness (m) |
3000 (but generally < 900) |
| Age Range |
Paleogene |
| Basin |
Overlies |
Late Devonian to Early Carboniferous sediments and volcanics: Late
Cretaceous volcanics in the north.
|
|
Underlies |
Neogene alluvium: shelf sands and carbonates. |
|
Subdivisions |
- |
|
Other |
- |
| Indicators |
Knowledge |
Detailed outcrop and well data and regional geophysical data onshore:
regional geophysical data only offshore.
|
|
Basin type |
Asymmetric intramontane graben. |
|
System(s) |
Capricorn. |
|
Water Depth (m) |
0 - 20 |
| Exploration |
Status |
Frontier. |
|
Wells |
3 onshore petroleum exploration, plus shallow bores into the Condor Oil
Shale.
|
|
Seismic line-km |
> 1000 2D onshore, one small survey offshore. |
|
Discoveries |
Nil |
|
Shows |
Minor gas shows in Proserpine-1. |
|
HC evidence |
Onshore basin contains the Condor Oil Shale deposit. |
| Geology |
Source(s) |
Lacustrine oil shale facies if present and mature in the deepest parts of
the basin.
|
|
Reservoirs |
Sands are poorly sorted and of poor reservoir quality. |
|
Seals |
Intraformational shales. |
|
Trap types |
Fault traps most likely. |
|
Palaeogeographic summary |
Intramontane basin, with no known marine influence: alluvial, fluvial and
lacustrine facies.
|
| Timing |
Oil generation |
No evidence of generation: Neogene if it occurred. |
|
Gas generation |
No evidence of generation: Neogene if it occurred. |
|
Trap formation |
Neogene. |
|
Other key times |
Repeated Neogene faulting of the basin fill. |
| Other important information |
The offshore Hillsborough Basin lies entirely within the Great Barrier Reef
Marine Park, in which petroleum exploration activity is prohibited.
|
| Geoscience Australia products available |
- |
