Picture of CSIRO Petroleum head office taken in front of the main entrance.

CSIRO Petroleum head office in Western Australia

Capitalising on Australia’s natural gas resources

The demand for natural gas is growing and Australia’s large reserves generate research and development challenges and opportunities for CSIRO scientists as they help innovate the ‘methane economy’.

  • 12 December 2007 | Updated 14 October 2011

Australia’s large gas resources offer the nation’s energy sector the opportunity to take an international research and development lead in the methane economy.

With expertise in gas processing and conversion, CSIRO is able to partner with industry, applying our skills in chemical, industrial and processing engineering.

Working with the nation’s biggest gas producers, we are helping to solve current technical, informational and logistical problems while formulating strategies to meet future challenges.

Our expertise includes:

  • converting gas to liquids
  • converting hydrogen from natural gas
  • gas processing
  • syngas manufacture.

Gas conversion

Natural gas reforming involves taking new approaches to syngas production and better utilising Australia’s stranded gas reserves.

We do this by:

  • catalysis - developing and testing new catalysts to improve the efficiency of natural gas processing
  • Fischer Tropsch processing - developing new approaches focused on offshore operations to converting gas to liquids 
  • gas separation - separation technologies for oxygen, hydrogen and carbon dioxide related to hydrogen production and greenhouse gas mitigation.

Facilities and services

CSIRO Petroleum has access to research facilities and laboratories that are unique in the South-East Asian region.

Our specialised laboratories allow our staff and partners to conduct research into the fossil fuel energy sector and to help develop new energy systems crucial in meeting future energy demands.

CSIRO is able to partner with industry, and apply our skills in chemical, industrial and processing engineering.

Our facilities include laboratories for:

  • gas analysis
  • rock mechanics
  • seismic modelling
  • specialised drilling fluids.

Partnerships and alliances

CSIRO Petroleum has developed strong networks with industry and research organizations in Australia and around the world, including:

  • Australian Resources Research Centre (ARRC) - site of CSIRO Petroleum’s head office, is a major initiative of the Western Australian government, CSIRO and Curtin University developed in conjunction with the petroleum and mining industries
  • PRSS PETRONAS - the research and development division of Malaysia’s national petroleum corporation
  • Western Australian Energy Research Alliance (WA:ERA) - a combination of CSIRO Petroleum, the University of Western Australia and Curtin University of Technology.

Learn more about CSIRO’s work in Energy from Fossil Fuels.