THE PROJECT
The New Ireland Basin is located northeast of New Ireland in the exclusive economic zone of the independent country of Papua New Guinea.
The basin is approximately 400 km long and 180 wide, and is bounded by the island of New Ireland to the south-west and the Kilinailau submarine trench to the north-east.
- Peak Oil (PNG) Pty Limited (
Peak Oil
) was established in 2007 for the purpose of exploring the hydrocarbon potential of the New Ireland Basin located in northernmost Papua New Guinea. In August 2013 the company received a petroleum prospecting licence (PPL352) over 183 graticular blocks covering approximately 15,680 square kilometres (approx. 3,875,000 acres). - A technical study to evaluate the petroleum prospectivity of the basin has identified the location and source of submarine hydrocarbon seeps and determined that the deep basinal sediments (exceeding 7 km) are thermally mature. These results indicate that the sedimentary formations of the New Ireland Basin have entered into the oil generation window.
- A 4D thermal modeling study of the New Ireland Basin conducted by RISC provided unrisked estimates for hydrocarbons ranging from 200 MM stb to 25 B stb BOE (barrels of oil equivalent), with a P50 estimate of 3.8 B stb BOE for the PPL352 area. Based on these results, the company took further steps to secure the resource by applying for a petroleum licence covering 80 blocks along the western boundary of PPL352 in December 2014.
- Our working model for the New Ireland Basin petroleum system involves peak hydrocarbon formation as a result of thermal reactivation of the basin following the oblique collision of the Ontong Java Plateau with the outboard basinal margin. Syntectonic transpressional forces formed horst blocks, flower structures and broad anticlinal features that focused migrating liquid hydrocarbons, trapping them within carbonate and/or volcaniclastic reservoirs in structural and stratigraphic features.
- Marine geophysical surveys in the period 1970-2000 have produced about 3500 km of multi- and single-channel seismic data over the New Ireland Basin, with most work being of a low-density nature. Seismic surveys have delineated several features relevant to petroleum prospecting including: basinal depocentres with sediment accumulations greater than 7000m, uplifted horst blocks flanked by anticlinal fold structures, reefal buildups in basin sediments, anomalous plume features and associated acoustic reflector
fadeout
, possibly related to the escape of subsurface hydrocarbons along a fault-controlled gas chimney, and flat-lying seismic reflectors orbright spots
interpreted as possible hydrocarbon accumulations. - Peak Oil has prioritized ten prospective targets in the New Ireland Basin that will be the focus of a seismic exploration program designed to rapidly identify potential drilling targets. This project involves exploration in water depths equivalent to offshore areas in the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and West Africa where large discoveries have successfully been put into production.