Natural gas - exploration:

Natural gas is often found with oil but it is also found with little or no associated oil. The cost of oil and gas exploration is high, especially when deposits are concentrated beneath the sea-bed. Although measuring instruments can detect likely areas to explore, the only certain way to confirm deposits is to drill a test well. Drilling is an expensive gamble. There is only a slim chance that an exploration well (a "wildcat") will reveal a major find.

Western Australia's sedimentary basins along the Continental Shelf may provide high yields of gas and some oil, but gas and oil deposits are difficult to find. Geologists working on these basins use seismographs (instruments for measuring and recording movement in the earth's crust) to locate folds in the subterranean rock which might contain oil or natural gas. Energy pulses (e.g. strong vibrations or compressed air “pops”) are created on the earth's surface and the resulting shock waves are measured on seismographs. From the readings, geologists can trace possible oil or gas fields.

For more information about the drilling and exploration of natural gas fields, go to:
http://www.naturalgas.org/naturalgas/exploration.asp

One of the world’s most distinctive gas-producing areas is the North West Shelf Joint Venture, located in Western Australia’s Dampier Basin. The North West Shelf Gas Project is Australia’s biggest resource development. As the state’s largest producer of gas, the North West Shelf Project supplied about 65 per cent of Western Australia’s gas demand in 2005. Through the project, about 207,598 terajoules of natural gas was produced in 2005. Natural gas is mainly used for domestic and industrial purposes.

Above - A method used for gas exploration.
To enlarge view - click here.

The North West Shelf Gas Project began commercial production in 1980. The gas in this field is trapped in layers of porous sandstone more than 3km below the sea-bed. The area produces the full range of hydrocarbon products: natural gas, liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, crude oil and condensate. The project includes three world-class, giant gas fields, which are North Rankin, Goodwyn and Perseus. The gasfields contain more than 33 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of producable gas. This is an ample amount to provide for Australia’s gas needs for many years.

The Western Australian Government is committed to developing other natural gas sources to ensure there are reliable, available fuel sources to meet our growing energy demands. Progress has been made to develop the giant natural gas resources of the Greater Gorgon area, located off Western Australia’s Pilbara coast. The first gas field in the Gorgon area was discovered in 1972 (refer to our “Gorgon gas field” section later in this fact sheet).

For more information about the North West Shelf Project,
go to:
www.bp.com.au/

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