Origin eyeing ACT-size shale oil reserves under delicate Qld floodplains

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Origin eyeing ACT-size shale oil reserves under delicate Qld floodplains

By Matt Dennien

One of Australia’s biggest power and gas suppliers is eyeing shale oil reserves likened to large North American basins across a vast swathe of far-west Queensland’s delicate Channel Country floodplains.

Applications by Origin Energy for state approval to seek undisclosed fossil fuels across about 225,000 hectares of the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre basin, an area about the size of the ACT, were first reported earlier this year.

Outside dry periods, the free-flowing Cooper Creek floodplain can swell across 80 kilometres and support a vast array of plant and animal life.

Outside dry periods, the free-flowing Cooper Creek floodplain can swell across 80 kilometres and support a vast array of plant and animal life.

New documents released to the Lock the Gate Alliance under right-to-information laws reveal the company wants to drill test wells in four permit areas around Tanbar, Windorah and Jundah – near the South Australian border – citing the “known shale oil potential”.

They point to recent Geological Survey of Queensland studies identifying the Toolebuc Formation beneath as a potential shale production region, while campaigners criticise state delays in protecting the ecosystem above.

“The study also concludes that the formation shares numerous favourable attributes with successful commercial North America analogue plays (i.e. Bakken Formation and Eagle Ford Shale), and that further appraisal is warranted,” the petroleum lease applications state.

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While permit areas are owned by Blue Energy, which has been contacted for comment and has faced criticism for a lack of action under work plans for the site, the company nominated Origin as the major applicant and operator of the leases, if approved.

An Origin spokesman said the state government was yet to grant the leases.

“As such, no exploration or appraisal activity has occurred,” he said. “In December 2020, we drilled a vertical test well further north near Jundah to collect core samples and data.”

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The move by Origin, which has targets to halve emissions by 2032, comes amid a declining global outlook for oil and gas projects. In May, the International Energy Agency warned against any new production fields being built to limit temperature rises to the 1.5 degrees needed to avoid the worst impacts of global warming.

Tony Wood, director of the Grattan Institute’s energy program, said any potential commercial extraction of the resource would face “huge hurdles” in both economic and environmental terms.

Shale wells drilled by Santos and Tamboran Resources in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.

Shale wells drilled by Santos and Tamboran Resources in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.

Shale oil and gas are found in rock formations often more than 1.5 kilometres below ground and accessed via deep wells and hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking.

A 2013 US Department of Energy report estimated Australia’s shale oil reserves at 17.5 billion barrels – though the accessible portion of this is likely to be lower – across several regions, including the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin and western Queensland.

Origin is already facing pressure over its plans to drill for shale gas in the NT basin, with concerns about global warming, sacred Indigenous sites, and the contamination of water systems.

While oil and gas have been produced in western Queensland by conventional means for decades, campaigners in the state echo similar worries about the riskier shale production methods.

Channel Country grazier Angus Emmott says the region that Origin is eyeing features the last desert rivers in the world that have not been seriously degraded by humans.

Channel Country grazier Angus Emmott says the region that Origin is eyeing features the last desert rivers in the world that have not been seriously degraded by humans.Credit: Jacky Ghossein

Outside dry periods, the free-flowing Cooper Creek floodplain can swell across 80 kilometres and support a vast array of plant and animal life, along with the nationally important Lake Yamma Yamma.

The government maintains it will not publicly release a report calling for a ban on unconventional gas exploration in the region until after the promised Lake Eyre Basin Stakeholder Advisory Group – including traditional owners, environmental groups, experts and industry – is formed to consult on future regulation.

A recent CSIRO assessment of the potential effects of shale production, which is still in the exploration phase nationwide, found it would have “greater cumulative impacts” than conventional methods and be of a similar scale to coal seam gas.

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Lock the Gate Alliance Queensland spokesperson Ellie Smith described as “appalling” the fact that the government had not ruled out unconventional exploration amid consultation delays and mounting fracking risks.

Channel Country grazier Angus Emmott said it was time for the government to “stop playing games” and legislate to protect the system after two successive election commitments.

An Environment Department spokesman said the advisory group was expected to be established by year’s end.

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