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Geochemical characteristics of early Carboniferous petroleum systems in Western Australia

Created 26/03/2026

Updated 26/03/2026

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A geochemical study was conducted to establish oil-oil correlations and evaluate potential source rocks within the latest Devonian–earliest Carboniferous succession of the onshore Canning Basin, Western Australia. Aromatic hydrocarbons, together with the routinely used saturated biomarker ratios and stable carbon isotopes, demonstrate that the recently discovered Ungani oilfield located on the southern margin of the Fitzroy Trough are similar, but not identical, to the early Carboniferous Larapintine 4 (L4) oil family present to the north of the Fitzroy Trough on the Lennard Shelf. The L4 oil family has been correlated to a lower Carboniferous (Tournaisian) source rock core sample from the Laurel Formation at Blackstone-1 although its bulk geochemical properties signify that it could generate substantially more gas than liquid hydrocarbons.

The Ungani oils can be distinguished from the L4 oils by their higher concentrations of paleorenieratane and isorenieratane, coupled with more depleted δ13C values for n-alkanes, pristane and phytane compared with other components. Hopane isomerisation ratios show distinct grouping of the two oil families that reflect both source and maturity variations. The oil from Wattle-1 ST1 on the Lennard Shelf also has an unusual composition, exhibiting some molecular and isotopic features similar to both the L4 and Ungani oils. Source rocks for the Ungani and Wattle-1 ST1 oils are unknown since their geochemical signature does not match that of the Tournaisian Laurel Formation or the Middle−Upper (Givetian–Frasnian) Devonian Gogo Formation which sourced the Devonian-reservoired Larapintine 3 oils at Blina and Janpam North-1. It is postulated that such potential oil-prone source rocks could occur within the Famennian–Tournaisian succession.

Citation: Gemma Spaak, Dianne S. Edwards, Clinton B. Foster, Andrew Murray, Neil Sherwood, Kliti Grice, Geochemical characteristics of early Carboniferous petroleum systems in Western Australia, Marine and Petroleum Geology, Volume 113, 2020, 104073, ISSN 0264-8172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2019.104073

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Field Value
Title Geochemical characteristics of early Carboniferous petroleum systems in Western Australia
Language English
Licence Not Specified
Landing Page https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/fc1ba7dd-c009-4a8d-a158-822b96a331f8
Contact Point
Geoscience Australia Data
clientservices@ga.gov.au
Reference Period 17/05/2017
Geospatial Coverage
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
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Data Portal Geoscience Australia

Data Source

This dataset was originally found on Geoscience Australia "Geochemical characteristics of early Carboniferous petroleum systems in Western Australia". Please visit the source to access the original metadata of the dataset:
https://ecat.ga.gov.au/geonetwork/srv/eng/csw/dataset/geochemical-characteristics-of-early-carboniferous-petroleum-systems-in-western-australia12