OTWAY BASIN
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
The Otway Basin is approximately 500km long from Cape Jaffa in South Australia to north-west Tasmania, covering both onshore and offshore. The Penola Trough, where Beach holds the majority of its exploration licences in the South East, has been explored for hydrocarbons (oil and gas) for over 100 years. Beach Energy is the permit holder of Petroleum Production License 62 (PPL62) where it operates the Katnook Gas Processing Facility, just south of Penola.
Beach is the permit holder of Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) 494 and a number of petroleum production (PPL) and retention licences (PRL), including PPL62 to the south of Penola where we operate the Katnook Gas Processing Facility (KGPF).
For more than 10 years, Beach’s operations in the South East have included a multi-well gas production program and seismic surveys to help safely identify natural gas resources within our existing exploration permits and production licences.
The KGPF was initially constructed in 1991, and supplied gas for over 20 years to industrial customers in the Limestone Coast region.
In September 2022, production operations at the KGPF were suspended. The facility and associated infrastructure are currently not operational.
SA Otway operations map
GEOLOGY OF THE OTWAY BASIN
The Otway Basin is a northwest-striking, rifted passive continental margin located along the southern margin of the Australian continent. It forms part of the Australian Southern Rift System, a zone that has resulted from Jurassic-Tertiary rifting and break-up between the Australian and Antarctic plates.
In the onshore portion of the Otway Basin, five major depocentres related to rifting events have been identified including the Robe, Penola, Tantanoola, St Clair and Rivoli Troughs. These geological provinces are filled (up to 5km deep) with thick sediments of the Crayfish Group – a package of sedimentological rock sequences deposited over millions of years.
The Penola Trough, where Beach Energy holds the majority of its exploration licenses in the South East has been explored for hydrocarbons for over 100 years. Hydrocarbons are generated in the Casterton Formation, and have migrated over time into the reservoirs of the Sawpit and Pretty Hill Sandstones, which have been the main reservoir targets for oil and gas exploration and production.
Aerial view of Katnook Gas Plant
Further information
To learn more about Beach’s operations in the South Australian Otway Basin, contact our Community Relations team:
Community Relations team
community@beachenergy.com.au
Ph: 1800 959 562
For more information on the petroleum industry regulatory processes in South Australia please visit:
