Bass Strait reserves

Oil and gas reservoirs, by their very nature, start to decline in production rates after about half of their reserves are produced. Therefore, fields need to be managed very carefully and ongoing exploration and development is important to ensure production levels can be maintained into the future.

In late 2001 ExxonMobil conducted its largest 3D seismic survey ever in Bass Strait.  This exploration data has been used to enable a new round of activities in Bass Strait. Whilst massive new fields are rarely discovered once a region has been producing for some time, new exploration using improved state of the art technology often detects small fields which may have previously been uneconomic to develop.

In Bass Strait there are a number of smaller, more complex fields which as stand-alone discoveries would be difficult to commercialise. However, because of their proximity to existing fields and infrastructure they can often be brought into production.

Bass Strait reservoirs are expected to continue producing for more decades to come.