Bowen

Commentary

While a positive operating environment locally, there remains lingering questions over the ability to operate in the longer-term given the headwinds arising from the Federal regulatory environment.

Updated

January 25, 2024

Location

Description

The foreland, Early Permian to Middle Triassic Bowen Basin of eastern Queensland occupies about 160,000sq km, the southern half of which is covered by the Surat Basin. It has a maximum sediment thickness of about 10,000 metres concentrated in two north-trending depocenters, the Taroom Trough to the east and the Denison Trough to the west. Deposition in the Basin commenced during an Early Permian extensional phase, with fluvial and lacustrine sediments and volcanics being deposited in a series of half-graben in the east while in the west a thick succession of coals and nonmarine clastics.

Summary

The Basin is largely underexplored as the principal development target (coal bed methane) has largely been a new technology, and additional regulatory headwinds have faced any type of development. However, the Basin remains an attractive location.