The CSIRO is looking seriously at sequestering carbon dioxide below the Bass Straight seabed, near the oilfields.
The oilfields themselves are in the same aquifer that provides bore water to farmers around Lakes Entrance.
The La Trobe aquifer is a sloping system of porous rock that contains fresh water in its upper levels, salt water further down and petroleum still lower
It is thought that fifty years of oil extraction have been partly responsible for the drop in groundwater levels, and injecting liquid carbon dioxide will help.
Science Network [read this story]