Bonaparte Basin

There are 15 release areas in the Bonaparte Basin, offshore northwestern Australia.

Release area locations:

• Petrel Sub-basin
• Vulcan Sub-basin
• Londonderry High

Regional geology

• View petroleum geology information for the Bonaparte Basin provided by 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 software.

See  all release area maps in this basin [1.31MB PDF]

View high resolution release area maps:

• Petrel Sub-basin release area map [1.18MB JPG]
• Vulcan Sub-basin release area map [1.27MB JPG]
• Londonderry High release area map [1.2MB JPG]

Download  shapefiles of the 2019 acreage release areas [148KB ZIP]

Block diagrams

Block diagrams show the coordinates of release area boundaries.

See  all block diagrams in this basin [479KB PDF]

View block diagrams:

• Petrel Sub-basin (Northern Territory) block diagram [302KB JPG]
• Petrel Sub-basin (Western Australia) block diagram [478KB JPG]
• Vulcan Sub-basin block diagram [550KB JPG]
• Londonderry High block diagram [359KB JPG]

Block listings

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

View block listings:

•  Petrel Sub-basin (Northern Territory) block listing [24KB DOCX]
•  Petrel Sub-basin (Western Australia) block listing [24KB DOCX]
•  Vulcan Sub-basin block listing [23KB DOCX]
•  Londonderry High block listing [24KB DOCX]

See  all block listings in the 2019 acreage release areas [45KB DOCX]  [873KB PDF]

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.

There are 2 single block release areas 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 AC19-1, AC19-2, AC19-3 and AC19-4.
• The Joseph Bonaparte Gulf Multiple Use Zone (IUCN VI) overlaps with release areas NT19-2, W19-3 and W19-4.
• The Oceanic Shoals Multiple Use Zone (IUCN VI) overlaps with release area W19-1.
• The Kimberley Multiple Use Zone (IUCN VI) overlaps with release area W19-5.

How to bid

Work-program bidding closes on 5 March 2020.

Find out how to file your application.

Review the Offshore Petroleum Exploration Guideline: work-bid.