Carpentaria

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

November 28, 2023

Location

Description

The Jurassic-Cretaceous intracratonic Carpentaria Basin lies beneath the Gulf of Carpentaria in offshore northern Australia, and extends onshore in Queensland and the Northern Territory. It is overlain by Tertiary sediments of the Kurumba Basin. Unlike the age-equivalent Eromanga and Surat basins which overlie large and thick older sedimentary basins, the Carpentaria Basin rests mainly upon an erosional surface of deformed Proterozoic rocks. Only a small portion of the offshore part of the basin overlies pre-Jurassic sedimentary rocks (Bamaga Basin).

Summary

The prospectivity of the basin was initially highlighted in 1978. However, there has been little exploration progress as the basin has been overtaken by the perceived better prospectivity in the neighbouring basins.