GeoScience Victoria will lead a new Department of Primary Industries study into the energy-rich south-west coast of Victoria.
Minister for Energy and Resources, Peter Batchelor, said the 3D study into the complex geology underpinning the area would make it easier to explore the vast Otway Basin for oil, gas and geothermal energy. “The resources sector is worth more than $5 billion to the State’s economy and employs more than 10,000 people in Victoria,” Mr Batchelor said.
DPI study to aid exploration
“The 3D framework study will allow geologists and exploration managers to understand better how the Basin was formed; the shape of the rock layers; and how different types of fluid moves through them.” He said understanding the rock layers beneath the earth and under the sea, and the way they had changed and moved through geologic time was vital to preserving and protecting the Otway Basin. Mr Batchelor said visualising the deeper parts of the Otway Basin in three dimensions would enable modern explorers to better interpret and understand this “immense but under-explored” part of Australia. “This will then enable them to predict more accurately the locations of oil and gas deposits under the ocean, and underground hot water systems that can be used to produce geothermal energy in the deep inland,” he said. As the Otway Basin is explored at deeper levels, better access to the latest technologies will help to make our state an ideal location for investors.” Mr Batchelor said the technology would assist the development of a whole-of-Victoria 3D model currently being constructed as part of the Government’s $2.5 million Rediscover Victoria 3D initiative.
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