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Updated: 23 April 2004

Australian petroleum exploration and development activity report

1 January to March 31 2003

Table 1. Quarterly wells* and metres drilled 2000 to 2003
Exploration Development Exploration Development
Quarter Onshore Offshore Onshore Offshore Total Total Total
Ended Wells Metres Wells Metres Wells Metres Wells Metres Wells Metres Wells Metres Wells Metres
Mar -00 7 14,357 15 36,449 14 36,449 3 5719 22 50,806 17 41,573 39 92,379
Jun -00 7 12,235 15 37,947 19 37,947 8 17,056 22 50,182 27 55,857 49 106,039
Sep -00 9 21,457 20 52,906 24 52,906 4 9618 29 74,363 28 63,491 57 137,854
Dec -00 14 28,399 12 37,308 22 37,308 9 24,853 26 65,707 31 76,055 57 141,762
Total 2000 37 76,448 62 164,010 79 164,610 24 57,246 99 241,058 103 236,976 202 478,034
Mar -01 17 35,686 19 48,938 22 48,938 0 0 36 84,099 22 52,981 58 137,080
Jun -01 15 36,212 12 31,218 17 31,218 9 42,040 27 67,430 26 82,933 53 150,363
Sep -01 15 34,358 10 25,184 16 25,184 8 21,175 25 59,542 24 57,718 49 117,260
Dec -01 21 49,280 18 44,461 10 44,461 5 15,243 39 93,741 15 34,272 54 128,013
Total 2001 68 155,536 59 149,801 65 149,801 22 78,458 127 305,337 87 227,904 214 533,241
Mar -02 11 23,164 15 36,428 18 36,428 5 17,758 26 59,592 23 63,397 49 122,989
Jun -02 8 19,940 8 17,921 20 17,921 10 27,989 16 37,861 30 73,008 46 110,869
Sep -02 10 22,673 8 20,157 6 20,157 8 24,064 18 42,830 14 43,356 32 82,433
Dec -02 14 32,774 15 38,655 10 38,655 4 6245 29 71,429 14 26,385 43 97,814
Total 2002 43 98,551 46 113,161 54 113,161 27 76,056 89 211,712 81 206,146 170 414,105
Mar -03 9 15,946 20 45,356 10 45,356 8 20,462 29 61,302 18 46,624 47 107,926
*Wells that reached total depth during the quarter.

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Table 2. Onshore and offshore wells and metres drilled, March 2003*

Exploration

Development

Onshore

Offshore
State Onshore Offshore Onshore Offshore Total Total Total
Wells Metres Wells Metres Wells Metres Wells Metres Wells Metres Wells Metres Wells Metres
Qld 1 2987 - - 3 7211 - - 4 10,198 - - 4 10,198
NSW - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Vic 5 5432 1 3174 - - 3 6422 5 5432 4 9596 9 15,028
Tas - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SA 2 4977 - - 5 14,285 - - 7 19,262 - - 7 19,262
WA 1 2550 18 40,000 2 4666 4 9713 3 7216 22 49,713 25 56,929
NT - - 1 2182 - - - - - - 1 2182 1 2182
JPDA - - 1 4327 - - - - - - 1 4327 1 4327
Total 9 15,946 21 49,683 10 26,162 7 16,135 19 42,108 28 65,818 47 107,926
*Wells that reached total depth during the quarter. JPDA: Joint Petroleum Development Area.

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Table 3. Onshore and offshore drilling status at 31 March 2003

Exploration wells

Development wells
State Completed or Cased and Suspended Abandoned or secured Completed or Cased and Suspended Abandoned or secured
D 1 DA Sus 2 Oil Gas O&G Dry Oil Gas O&G Un D 1 DA Sus Oil Gas O&G Ser 3 Dry Oil Gas O&G Un
Qld 1 - - - 1 - - - - - - 3 - - - 3 - - - - - - -
NSW - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Vic 6 - - - - - 5 - 1 - - 3 - - 2 1 - - - - - - -
Tas - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SA 2 - - - 1 - 1 - - - - 5 1 - - 4 - - - - 1 - -
WA 19 2 2 - - - 11 5 3 - - - - - 6 - - - - - - - -
NT4 1 - - - - - 1 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
JPDA - - - - - - - - - - - 1 3 - 1 - - - - - - - -
Total Qtr 29 - - - 2 - 18- 5 4 - - 18 4 - 9 8 - - - - 1 - -
2002 89 4 2 11 25 2 36 12 3 2 - 81 8 - 34 38 4 - 4 1 - - -
2001 126 7 1 8 41 - 60- 10 6 1 - 88 1 - 30 54 - - 3 - 1 - -
Previous quarter 29 3 - 2 10 - 12 2 2 1 - 14 5 - 7 6 1 - - - - - -

D,drilled; DA,drilling ahead; Sus,suspended; O&G,oil and gas; Un,unspecified; Ser,service well; JPDA:Joint Petroleum Development Area.

1 Excludes wells drilling ahead or suspended. 2 Indicated drilling has temporarily stopped before reaching final depth.
3 Classification applicable only to development wells. 4 Includes Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands.

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Table 4. Discoveries*, 1 January to 31 March 2003 (in order of discovery

Operator

Field

Nature of Discovery

Basin

State

Permit
Apache Dawn† Gas Carnarvon WA TL/1
Esso Scallop† Gas Gippsland Vic Vic/RI.2
BHPBilliton Stybarrow† Oil Carnarvon WA WA-255-P
Tap Cyrano† Oil & Gas Carnarvon WA EP 364
Tap Crackling South† Oil Carnarvon WA EP 341
Arc Eremia† Oil Perth WA L1 R1
*Subject to revision. †Inferred from logs only

Seismic survey activity

Offshore , 2D seismic surveys recorded 4649 line km during the March quarter of 2003 (Table 5 & Figure 2). This is a decrease on the 11,867 km shot in the previous quarter and an increase on the 3268 km for the same period in 2002.
3D seismic surveys were carried out over 1500 km2, which is almost identical to that carried out in the previous quarter but again a decrease on the 6641 km2 carried out in the fourth quarter of 2002. The survey was undertaken in the Gippsland Basin.

Onshore , 305 line kilometres were acquired in 2D seismic surveys during the March quarter of 2003. This is a decrease on the 580 km of the previous quarter and considerably lower than the 933 km of the March quarter of 2002. The data was acquired from the Cooper/Eromanga Basin. There were no 3D seismic surveys carried out onshore which follows the trend over the last few quarters.

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Table 5. Seismic survey activity to March 2003

State

2001

2002

March Quarter 2003

Onshore

Offshore

Onshore

Offshore

Onshore

Offshore
2D 3Dkm2 2D 3Dkm2 2D 3Dkm2 2D 3Dkm2 2D 3Dkm2 2D 3Dkm2
Qld 171 811 - - 1688 838 - - 130 - - -
NSW 176 - - - 311 - - - 175 - - -
Vic 131 195 1409 2463 562 - 3286 4185 - - - 1500
Tas 659 - 3576 - - - 1142 - - - - -
SA 100 2064 14,058 - 826 342 - - - - - -
WA 60 180 37,547r 15,903r - 57 14,867 2110 - - 4649 -
NT - - 5489 171 - - 6485 - - - - -
JPDA - - - - - - - - - - - -
Sub-total 1298 3250 62,079 18,537 3387 1237 25,780 6294 305 - 4649 1500
Grand Total Line km 63,377 29,167 5054
Square km 21,787 7532 1500
JPDA: Joint Petroleum Development Area. Line: approximate line km for 3d surveys. r: revised.

Rig activity Success rates

The total number of active rigs during the March 2003 quarter was forty-seven, which is an increase on the number active during December 2002 (38). Rig activity during the quarter didn't vary much with 15, 16 and 16 rigs active respectively.

Offshore, the number of active rigs remained steady at 6 each month and inactive rigs between 1 and 2 during the quarter.
Development drilling occurred in the Carnarvon, Perth and Gippsland Basins with exploration drilling carried out in the Gippsland, Otway, Carnarvon and Perth Basins. Active rigs at the end of the quarter were drilling ahead in the Carnarvon (1), Canning (1), Bonaparte (4) and Perth (1) Basins.

Onshore, the number of active rigs varied between 9 and 10, which is lower than in the same period last year (8-12). During the first quarter of 2003, development drilling occurred in the Cooper, Cooper/Eromanga, Bowen/Surat, Surat, and Eromanga Basins. Exploration drilling was carried out in the Surat, Cooper/Eromanga, Bowen and Cooper Basins.

The success rates shown in Table 7 are based on the number of petroleum discoveries and new-field wildcat wells drilled in Australia onshore and offshore from 1990 to 2002. No assumptions have been made about whether a 'discovery' has proved or will prove to be commercial. Geoscience Australia defines a discovery as a well from which a measurable amount of oil or gas has been recovered and also includes those discoveries inferred from well logs.


Table 7. Success rates, 1990-2002

Year

Success Rate
Onshore Offshore Combined
1990 1:2.8 1:4.2 1:3.3
1991 1:2.4 1:8.0 1:3.1
1992 1:3.3 1:4.7 1:3.7
1993 1:2.6 1:3.3 1:2.8
1994 1:1.8 1:3.3 1:2.1
1995 1:2.5 1:3.8 1:2.8
1996 1:2.8 1:2.7 1:2.8
1997 1:1.9 1:4.6 1:2.3
1998 1:2.1 1:4.1 1:2.7
1999 1:2.5 1:3.5 1:3.0
2000 1:3.1 1:2.2 1:2.4
2001 1:1.8 1:3.6 1:2.4
2002 1:1.5 1:3.0 1:2.4

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Table 6. Drilling rig activity, January 2002 to March 2003

Active

Idle

Availability
Onshore Offshore Total Onshore Offshore Total Onshore Offshore
S M D (all deep) S M D (all deep) Total %Active Total %Active
Jan -02 0 4 8 6 18 0 4 7 3 14 23 52 9 67
Feb 0 2 6 7 15 0 5 9 2 16 22 36 9 78
Mar 0 4 7 6 17 0 3 8 2 13 22 50 8 75
Apr 0 2 10 7 19 0 6 4 2 12 22 55 9 78
May 0 2 9 7 18 0 6 5 2 13 22 50 9 78
Jun 0 0 8 6 14 0 7 5 2 14 20 40 8 75
Jul 0 2 6 3 11 1 7 6 2 16 22 36 5 60
Aug 0 1 5 3 9 1 8 8 1 18 23 26 4 75
Sep 0 1 6 4 11 2 9 8 1 20 26 27 5 80
Oct 0 2 6 3 11 2 7 6 1 16 23 35 4 75
Nov 2 2 5 5 14 0 6 5 0 11 20 45 5 100
Dec 0 1 6 6 13 2 5 6 1 14 20 35 7 86
Jan -03 1 3 5 6 15 2 1 5 1 9 17 53 7 86
Feb 2 2 6 6 16 2 2 6 1 11 20 50 7 86
Mar 1 2 7 6 16 3 2 7 2 14 22 45 8 75
S, shallow (<1525 metres); M, medium (1525-2750 metres); D, deep (>2750 metres).

This publication includes the following: preliminary statistics for wells and metres drilled, seismic survey line & square kilometres recorded and rig activity, to the end of March 2003. The data from which these statistics are derived have been compiled by Geoscience Australia from various sources, including the petroleum exploration industry and State and Northern Territory departments of mines.


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