arid topographical depression and site of natural gas and oil fields in northeastern South Australia. It underlies the Eromanga Basin and covers an area of almost 50,000 square miles (130,000 square km). The Gidgealpa natural gas field in Cooper Basin was discovered in 1963, and a second major natural gas field was found soon after at nearby Moomba. In 1969 a natural gas pipeline was completed from Moomba to Adelaide, and in 1976 natural gas began to be supplied to the Sydney area by a second pipeline. Petroleum exploration in the 1980s resulted in new discoveries of both oil and gas. Seismic work, appraisal drilling, and engineering studies at Tirrawirra, Fly Lake, and Moorari oil fields have been undertaken, and an oil pipeline from Moomba to Stony Point, S.Aus., was completed in 1982.