CSIRO's research is focused on the following:

Petroleum systems
Petroleum systems

- CSIRO is supporting a smooth transition to Australia's clean and secure energy future with new oil and gas technologies.

Enhanced oil recovery
Enhanced oil recovery

- CSIRO researchers are investigating several techniques that may substantially increase the amount of oil that can be recovered from a reservoir.

Flow assurance
Flow assurance

- Next generation flow assurance technologies are ensuring uninterrupted flow of oil and gas in subsea pipelines and access to previously stranded gas.

Unconventional gas
Unconventional gas

- New research and development are giving us access to gas resources that were previously uneconomical.

There are few resources with the same impact on the world economy as oil and gas. Petroleum products have widespread and important uses – from transport and power generation to consumer goods. As such, Australia’s economic wealth and growth relies heavily on our petroleum endowment.

In terms of costs and benefits, petroleum is superior to other energy sources and is likely to remain a significant primary source of energy well into the future. It is therefore imperative to maximise the precious crude oil resources we have and recover the massive supplies of remote and unconventional gas located off North West Australia and along our Eastern seaboard.

New technologies are making it possible to meet the challenges faced in reaching and recovering oil and gas further offshore and from reservoirs that were previously inaccessible because they were uneconomical or too difficult to produce.