Optimizing Fault Risking Strategies for Subsurface Resource Exploration on the Exmouth Plateau, NW Australia

Author:

Bankole Ayomipo O1,Omosanya Kamaldeen Olakunle2,Adebisi Niyi-Ola1,Mosuro Ganiyu. O1,Lawal Muhedeen A3,Yakup Niyazi4,Eruteya Ovie Emmanuel5

Affiliation:

1. Department of Earth Sciences, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun, Nigeria

2. Oasisgeokonsult, Trondheim, Norway

3. School of Earth Sciences, The Ohio State University, USA

4. Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre, School of Biological Sciences and UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

5. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

Abstract

Abstract The understanding of geological fault growth history is critical in subsurface resource exploration, given the key role faults play in maintaining reservoir integrity. Traditional practices involve assessing fault initiation, propagation, segmentation, linkage, and reactivation to elucidate their growth mechanisms and history. Various traditional methods, complemented by fault growth models, are employed, with the choice of method contingent on the study's scope and objectives. In this study, we use high-quality, high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) seismic reflection data to investigate the evolution of two primary faults intersecting the Exmouth Plateau, offshore Northwest Australia. By applying displacement analysis techniques, including variations of fault displacement/throw with distance (T-x), throw (T) with depth (T-z), and Allan diagrams, we scrutinize potential leaking or compromised segments along the interpreted faults. Our results show that the faults are oriented in the NNE-SSW direction and developed under extensional regimes from the Middle Triassic to Late Jurassic. These faults show high segmentation along strike and mild segmentation along dip. Their T-x profiles reveal a multiple-segment profile of C-type and hybrid C-type, indicating evolution from the linkage of different fault segments at local displacement minima. Importantly, the Allan diagram highlights a leakage zone along F1 at the Top Rankin Beds unit, where a throw of less than 10 ms (approximately 10 m) was recorded. This area represents a potential site of subsurface fluid leakage, including oil, CO2, hydrogen, and other gases. The techniques and results presented here have profound implications for subsurface resource exploration in the studied area, with broader applications in similar settings worldwide.

Publisher

SPE

Reference40 articles.

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4. Tectonic and stratigraphic evolution of the central Exmouth Plateau, NW Shelf of Australia;Bilal;Mar Pet Geol,2022

5. Normal fault growth in three-dimensions in continental and oceanic crust, in Faulting and Magmatism at Mid-Ocean Ridges: Geophys;Cowie;Monogr,1998

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