John Heugh, Central Petroleum’s managing director says it is the first time that the airborne GT-1A Gravimeter system had been used in Australia as part of hydrocarbon exploration.
The GT-1A system, which has been used overseas, offers similar resolution to more cumbersome ground-based systems. But in its fixed-wing aircraft platform, it can quickly cover more ground than previous ground-based systems.
“We have been able to identify leads and targets that include interpreted antiforms, which are potential petroleum traps, of more than 200sq.km in area,” he says.
“As a consequence, and under the Acreage Options provisions of the Special Permitting Authority 7/04-5, we have applied for three exploration permits totaling 14,000sq.km within the boundaries of the SPA.”
Heugh said if the on-ground seismic study goes ahead, it will be the first time an active seismic crew has been in the Western Amadeus basin since 1963.
Only ground geological surveys by the Western Australian geological survey had taken place in the area since the early 1960s, he says.
