Bonaparte Basin

There are 12 release areas in the Bonaparte Basin, offshore northern Australia.

Release area locations:

• Troubadour Terrace
• Malita Graben
• Petrel Sub-basin
• Vulcan Sub-basin

Regional geology

• View petroleum geology information for the Bonaparte Basin from Geoscience Australia
• For wells and survey information search the interactive NOPIMS database

Maps and shapefiles

Maps show the release areas in bathymetric detail. They also include other permit locations, known petroleum accumulations and wells. Shapefiles show the areas in vector format for geographic information system (GIS) software.

See all release area maps in this basin [1.75MB PDF]

View high resolution release area maps:

• Troubadour Terrace release area map [2.45MB PNG]
• Malita Graben release area map [1.87MB PNG]
• Petrel Sub-basin release area map [2.55MB PNG]
• Vulcan Sub-basin release area map [3.01MB PNG]

Download shapefiles of all acreage release areas [127KB ZIP]

Block diagrams

Block diagrams show the coordinates of release area boundaries.

See all block diagrams in this basin [554KB PDF]

View block diagrams:

• Troubadour Terrace block diagram [349KB JPG]
• Malita Graben (Northern Territory) block diagram [258KB JPG]
• Petrel Sub-basin (Northern Territory) block diagram [235KB JPG]
• Petrel Sub-basin (Western Australia) block diagram [147KB JPG]
• Malita Graben (Western Australia) block diagram [289KB JPG]
• Vulcan Sub-basin block diagram [551KB JPG]

Block listings

Block listings provide graticular block numbers and 1:1,000,000 map sheet references that identify each release area.

See all block listings in this basin [496KB PDF] [45KB DOCX]

Single blocks

According to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006, release areas that are 1 graticular block in size cannot be renewed for a further permit term.

AC20-5 is a single block release area in this basin.

Marine parks and international jurisdictions

The following areas overlap with marine parks and international jurisdictions.

• The 1997 Perth Treaty area overlaps with release areas NT20-4, NT20-5, AC20-1, AC20-2 and AC20-3.
• The Oceanic Shoals Special Purpose Zone (Trawl) (IUCN VI) overlaps with release areas NT20-4, NT20-5, NT20-6 and NT20-2.
• The Oceanic Shoals Multiple Use Zone (IUCN VI) overlaps with release areas NT20-6, NT20-8 and W20-2.

The Australian Government reserves the right to implement necessary measures under international law for resources that may be found to straddle international maritime jurisdictions. This position may affect exploration within potential acreage release areas NT20-5, NT20-6, W20-2, AC20-1, AC20-2 and AC20-3.

When preparing a bid and planning exploration, explorers should:

• carefully consider the relevant maritime boundaries and international treaties
• take all relevant advice

How to bid

Work-program bidding closes on Tuesday 1 June 2021.

Find out how to file your application.

About these files

If you experience any difficulty accessing this information, please email Petroleum.Exploration@industry.gov.au