Abstract
Since the finding of the first oil in 1953, many wells have been drilled in the North West Shelf (NWS). From 1960's to 1970's, there were significant discoveries of oil/gas fields in Carnarvon and Browse Basins, which were the anticline trap based on the 2D seismic interpretation. In the early 1980's, the new oil fields found in the Bonaparte Basin showed that these oil fields were not only anticline trap but also fault trap, which were based on the regional geological and geophysical studies. In the early 1990's, the improvement of seismic technology led to the finding of additional reserves, which were staratigraphic trap and other type traps.
In 1998, sixty-one exploration and appraisal wells were drilled on the NWS. The Carnarvon basin had the only significant oil and gas fields in 1998.
In early 1999, every company decided to reduce the exploration budget under the influence of the low oil price ($10/bbl). As a result, these exploration companies take the exploration strategy to concentrate on the core area for each company. This strategy will lead to the increasing exploration activity on the exploration mature basin, as the Carnarvon Basin.
