Oil & Gas Exploration

CSIRO Petroleum Resources Division has world class researchers working on improving Australia's oil and gas self-sufficiency.

We provide the solutions that keep Australia’s minerals industry on the world stage.

A report on how Australia can best respond to the environmental and economic challenges arising from its dependence on fossil fuels for transport is being released in Melbourne today.

Research into oil and gas exploration and production and wider energy technologies has received a funding boost following the signing of a Strategic Alliance Agreement between CSIRO and Petronas, the national petroleum company of Malaysia.

The Shale Research Centre conducts experimental and theoretical research on shale properties and problems.

The Wells and Subsea Technologies program is working towards creating smart wells and ways to dispense with traditional platforms

CSIRO Petroleum’s Rock Mechanics Laboratory undertakes research and testing for exploration, development and production scenarios in the oil industry as well as for geological storage of CO₂.

The demand for natural gas is growing and Australia’s large reserves generate research and development challenges that CSIRO is helping to meet with expertise in gas processing, conversion and a research base geared to meet the evolving needs of the methane economy.

A video about better prediction of oil and gas deposits for which CSIRO Petroleum’s Characterisation Team received a CSIRO Medal in 2004. (2:30)

Dr Peter Eadington discusses how Fluid History Analysis has the potential to make it easier to find oil in Australia in this three-minute audio.

Dr Cedric Griffiths is a geologist with a fascination for using computers to predict what lies underground in the Earth’s strata.

A leading research centre where scientists can interact, exchange information and explore new ideas in partnership with industry to ensure the ongoing sustainability of our resources industries, our environment and our way of life.

CSIRO has extensive expertise in hydraulic fracturing techniques and is developing new methods of analysis and application of hydraulic fracturing to the petroleum, mining, geothermal industries and for geoscience research. (2 pages)

CSIRO’s capabilities in petroleum hydrogeology are applied to industry challenges including fault and top seal capacity for oil, gas and CO₂ hydrocarbon migration, depletion studies, geological storage of CO₂, submarine groundwater discharge and geothermal energy. (2 pages)

Strontium Isotope Stratigraphy (SIS) is used for high resolution chronostratigraphic control of sedimentary sequences.

Learn here how Sedsim, software created by CSIRO that determines how sediments change in both time and space, works.