Quick facts
Overview
The McArthur Basin contains a number of conventional and unconventional petroleum systems within four petroleum supersystems, with most activity to date focussing on the late Palaeoproterozoic McArthur Group within the Batten Fault Zone in the southern McArthur Basin. Separate to this is the Mesoproterozoic Roper Group stratigraphy within the Beetaloo Sub-basin, a structural sub-surface sub-basin of the McArthur Basin, which hosts the Northern Territory's premier shale gas play.
Further information can be found on the Beetaloo Sub-basin inventory page .
The McArthur Basin is an extensive and complex Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic sedimentary basin that forms the western extension of the Carpentaria Zinc Belt within the Mount Isa region. It unconformably overlies Palaeoproterozoic Pine Creek Orogen, Murphy Province and Arnhem Province to the northwest, southeast and northeast respectively. It is unconformably overlain by the Palaeozoic Arafura, Georgina and Mesozoic Carpentaria basins. The McArthur Basin is interpreted to be contiguous with the Palaeo-Mesoproterozoic Birrindudu Basin and Tomkinson Province. The sedimentary sequences are dominated by dolostone, sandstone, shale and minor felsic and mafic volcanics.
Exploration for petroleum first commenced in the1980s with Amoco Australia Petroleum Company, followed on by an extensive campaign by Pacific Oil and Gas Pty Ltd through the1980s and early 1990s, resulting in more than 20 exploration wells. The most recent phase of significant petroleum exploration activity commenced in the late 2000s, with a steep increase in activity around 2010, largely driven by developments in petroleum engineering allowing for development of unconventional resources such as shale gas and oil. A number of discovery wells were reported in the 2010s. Exploration has once again rapidly accelerated since 2021, particularly within the Beetaloo Sub-basin with a number of companies announcing significant contingent resources.
Further exploration history can be found on the Beetaloo Sub-basin inventory page .
Petroleum
The McArthur Basin is highly prospective for significant shale gas resources and conventional oil and gas resources and contains a number of conventional and unconventional systems with four petroleum supersystems recognised in the basin. The McArthur Supersystem contains conventional and unconventional petroleum systems with exploration predominantly focused in the southern McArthur Basin. The McArthur Group's Barney Creek Formation is a significant source rock and shale gas and -oil prospect. Conventional gas is also reservoired in relatively low-permeability rocks in the Lynott Formation and Reward Dolostone.
Download the conventional oil and gas factsheet PDF (1.7 MB).
Additional petroleum potential also exists on the Beetaloo Sub-basin basin inventory page .
Other energy potential
The McArthur Basin and its geological properties may host the potential for carbon capture and storage and geothermal energy.
Mineral commodities
For an overview of the mineral prospectivity view the Geology of the Northern Territory Chapter 15 McArthur Basin and the mineral commodities pages.
The following table contains publicly announced best estimate of contingent resources (2C) in the advanced McArthur Basin in accordance with the SPE-Petroleum Resources Management System.
| Formation | Permit | Well | Resource | Gross Contingent Resources 2C | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teena Dolostone | EP171 | Glyde-1 | conventional gas (bcf) | 6 | Amour Energy (2021) |
Armour Energy Ltd reported gas in Cow Lagoon-1 and Glyde-1 ST1 in 2012 and this was followed-up by significant oil and gas shows in Lamont Pass-3 in 2013.
Additional resources are also contained in the Beetaloo Sub-basin inventory .
In January 2024, Armour Energy Group sold its assets, including its exploration permits in the McArthur Basin in the Territory to ADZ Energy Pty Ltd.
In February 2024, Top End Energy Ltd announced that they had acquired granted EPs 144, 153 and 154 in the greater McArthur Basin and South Nicholson Basin from Minerals Australia Pty Ltd and Jacaranda Minerals Ltd, wholly owned subsidiaries of Hancock Prospecting.
In February 2023, signed an agreement with Lucapa Diamond Company Limited for supply of gas from the Glyde field in the McArthur Basin to the Merlin diamond project, located 20 km from the field. The agreement contemplates sales of gas from the conventionally reservoired Glyde field in mid-2025.
Elsewhere in the greater McArthur Basin, Armour Energy, Minerals Australia (a subsidiary of Hancock Prospecting) and Empire Energy have large tenement holdings with a number of stacked conventional and unconventional petroleum plays.
A more detailed description of the petroleum potential of the McArthur Basin can be found in NTGS Report 22.
Petroleum wells in the McArthur Basin are largely focussed on the Mesoproterozoic Roper Group stratigraphy within the Beetaloo Sub-basin and the Palaeoproterozoic McArthur Group stratigraphy across the McArthur Basin.
Open file petroleum company reports and all NTGS data and information on the McArthur Basin is available from the GEMIS website.