Prospectivity of the Vulcan Sub-Basin. The Power of New Seismic Imaging to Unlock a Basin’s Secrets

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About the Course

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The Vulcan sub-basin is one of Australia’s most interesting petroleum basins. It’s oil- prone nature, long exploration history and modest water-depth lifts it high in any basin- screening exercise. However, conversations with seasoned Australian explorers on the challenges of exploring the Vulcan sub-basin tempers the enthusiasm of the uninitiated.

In this talk the impact of the Novar MC3D, a re-processing of ten legacy surveys across the Vulcan sub-basin, upon the petroleum potential of the sub-basin will be examined. The Novar MC3D was processed through an extensive de-ghosted, de-multiple, anisotropic pre-stack depth migrated sequence to provide a superior quality seamless 3D dataset. These data have significantly improved imaging of the deeper Jurassic & Triassic structural & stratigraphic objectives and allow a new evaluation of the petroleum potential of the basin.

With these data, a re-examination of the structural history of the basin and fault geometries has been undertaken leading to a rejuvenation of petroleum potential of plays associated with: a) The Paqualin salt diapir; b) The depositional geometry of Jurassic-age sands; and c) Amplitude responses in the pre-Jurassic section.

The new-play imaging capability afforded by the Novar MC3D permits an assertion that it is possible that the next few years will see the re-emergence of the Vulcan sub-basin and surroundings as a prominent hydrocarbon province in Australia.


Your Instructor


Stephen Doyle & Simon Molyneux
Stephen Doyle & Simon Molyneux

Stephen Doyle is the Managing Director of Multi-Client Resources, an Australian company he founded in July 2018 that specializes in the development, management, promotion and delivery of high quality non-exclusive geophysical data products and services to the oil and gas industry. Stephen is a geophysicist with more than 30 years’ experience in the upstream oil and gas industry. He has held senior executive positions globally with PGS and Polarcus as well as oil and gas operating companies – Arcadia Petroleum, Cathay Petroleum and Enovation Resources. He was a co-founder and non- executive director of MultiClient Geophysical ASA. His commitment to the industry saw him serve as President of SEAPEX from 2009 to 2012.


Simon Molyneux is the Managing Director of Molyneux Advisors, a company founded in 2018 that is a leading provider of upstream advice to the oil and gas industry. Simon is a Geoscientist with 20 years of experience acquired at Santos, Talisman Energy and Shell. He was Santos’s Exploration Manager for offshore Australia and exploration and subsurface lead for Talisman Energy’s assets in Malaysia. He is driven by a belief that each field, prospect or basin requires an integrated approach to maximise resource value. Simon has a Masters degree in Earth Sciences from Cambridge University, a PhD in Structural Geology from Durham University and a Graduate Certificate in Strategic Decision and Risk Management from Stanford University.