Otway

Commentary

While a positive operating environment locally, there remains some lingering questions over the ability to operate in the longer-term given the headwinds arising from the Federal regulatory environment. However, exploration in the offshore part of the Basin remains positive.

Updated

June 18, 2024

Location

Description

The Otway Basin is one of the best known and most actively explored of the series of Mesozoic rift basins that span the southern coastline of Australia, which has been shown to be analogous to basins such as the Tucano–Reconcauo Basin of Brazil and the Gabon and Cabinda basins of the west coast of Africa, which contain some of the world’s largest oil fields.

Summary

The lack of early success may be attributed to poor quality seismic data prior to the early 1980s, and a poor understanding of structure and stratigraphic relationships in the Robe and Penola Troughs. Good-quality modern seismic coverage now exists over the offshore and most of the onshore parts of the Basin and stratigraphic relationships are better understood.