The North West Shelf of Australia, extending some 2400 km along the continent’s northwestern coast, is the nation’s premier hydrocarbon province, and is rivaled only by Qatar as the world’s leading liquified natural gas exporter. It is underlain by four large sedimentary basins, the Northern Carnarvon, Roebuck, Browse, and Bonaparte Basins, respectively, from southwest to northeast: all contain significant reserves of hydrocarbons. These basins constitute the Westralian Super Basin, but industry has used the term North West Shelf as a geographic term of convenience for decades, covering not only the continental shelf but also adjacent deep-water regions. Sediment thickness reaches a maximum of nearly 20,000 m, with superimposed Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic successions. At the end of 2021, the estimated proven and probable production available from the historical, current, and sanctioned developed fields in the North West Shelf basins was 138 TCF of gas, 3100 million bbl of oil, and 2600 million bbl of condensate. Discovered undeveloped resources are currently estimated to be 97 TCF of gas, 350 million bbl of oil, and 1600 million bbl of condensate. The challenge for industry is to commercialize the undeveloped gas fields and to discover new oil and gas resources. New concepts and processes will be required to ensure exploration and production success, almost certainly in the face of increased public and political opposition. That success is vital for Australia’s future and for the health of the economy and the people of the Australasian region. Gas, which was once seen as the curse of the North West Shelf but proved to be its fortune in the late twentieth century, must continue to provide for the nation and her neighbors well into the century ahead.

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