The project, to be carried out for the Chinese National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), is the result of a collaborative research agreement between CSIRO's Division of Petroleum Resources, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the South China Sea Institute of Oceanology (SCSIO). The project has also attracted funding from the National Science Foundation of China.
"Many of the world's recent major oil and gas discoveries have been in deep-water sedimentary systems, and the results of some recent research suggest the deep-water sedimentary system of the northern South China Sea is very promising," says Dr Keyu Liu of CSIRO Petroleum.
Researchers from SCSIO (led by Professor Di Zhou) and CNOOC will use their geological and stratigraphic knowledge of the area to back this up, while researchers from CSIRO, coordinated by Dr Keyu Liu, will use their expertise to model the way deep-sea sediments could have been deposited over millions of years and predict where oil might be trapped.
Together the team will establish methods to understand how stratigraphic layers may have formed on the sea floor and determine the factors that could control the migration of hydrocarbons through the sediments.
"Understanding these areas is of great importance scientifically and commercially as more and more companies begin to explore in deep-water basins," says Dr Liu.
"This will be a powerful combination of expertise and very important in achieving the goals of the project.
"It will also enable us to promote CSIRO's research capabilities to CNOOC for future commercial or research work."
CNOOC has recently signed a deal with Chevron-Texaco to help develop Australia's largest gas reserve, with the potential to result in a 30 billion dollar supply contract with Beijing.
CSIRO scientists (Dr Keyu Liu, Dr Cedric Griffiths and Dr Peter Eadington) will visit SCSIO early in 2004 to study the geology of the northern South China Sea and conduct workshops on the application of various CSIRO techniques, and Professor Zhou and a colleague will visit Australia later in 2004 to undertake research using CSIRO Petroleum's facilities and technologies including: Sedsim, OMITM, QGFTM, QGF-ETM.
Professor Zhou says she is extremely impressed by the research capabilities of CSIRO in petroleum exploration - which she experienced first hand during a brief visit to CSIRO's Australian Resources Research Centre (ARRC) last year.
"This collaboration will enable my colleagues and I to access the best petroleum R&D facilities in the region to address some fundamental issues in petroleum exploration in the South China Sea," says Professor Zhou.
Professor Beverley Ronalds, Chief of CSIRO Petroleum, believes the project will present excellent opportunities for CSIRO techniques and technologies to be applied to Chinese petroleum exploration.
"Not only will the project be a showcase of collaborative research effort, it will also provide new knowledge for petroleum companies both in Australia and China who may be exploring deep-water targets and may lead to potential new projects funded by oil companies in both countries."
Work on the project, officially titled Stratigraphic Modelling of the Deep-Water Fan System of the Northern South China Sea and Evaluating its Petroleum Charge and Migration, will begin in February 2004.
