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.

CSIRO joins an elite group to form a new strategic energy research alliance with PetroChina, one of the largest oil companies in the world.

CSIRO technologies are helping petroleum companies improve their exploration methods not only in Australia but worldwide. Chinese petroleum companies, including PetroChina, China’s largest oil and gas producer use CSIRO technologies to improve predictions on the presence and quantity of oil to reduce the risk of drilling dry wells.

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

SiroSOM identifies relationships within large and diverse datasets typical in the geosciences and is also an effective predictive tool.

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.

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's diagenesis team delivers capabilities in diagenetic studies and characterisation of reservoir rocks and minerals. (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)

Sensing technologies for hydrocarbons and their potential use as exploration devices is being delivered through the CSIRO Wealth from Oceans National Research Flagship (2 pages).

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