Offshore Northwest Australia

Last updated:29 August 2023

The offshore North and Northwest Region of Australia is a world class gas province with significant oily sweet spots. The region includes the offshore and marginal basins of the Arafura Sea (Carpentaria, Arafura and Money Shoals basins) and the North West Shelf (Bonaparte, Browse, Offshore Canning, Roebuck and Carnarvon basins and Wallaby Plateau). Cumulatively, the basins of the North West Shelf comprise the Westralian Superbasin, a thick Late Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Cainozoic sedimentary succession related principally to the fragmentation of Gondwana.

Note: refer to the Acreage Release basins page for updated information on the Bonaparte, Browse, Northern Carnarvon, Southern Carnarvon and Roebuck basins.