May 2024
Recent deep-water gas discoveries in the North Sumatra Basin of Indonesia are a significant milestone in the region’s long history of hydrocarbon exploration. These discoveries mark a renewed interest in this region and offer an insight into potential future exploration vectors. In this edition of Subsurface Insights, we assess the potential to extend the new Oligocene sandstone play opener into the wider North Sumatra Basin, by discussing the presence, distribution, and effectiveness of the individual play elements within this fairway and the geological implications for the wider region.
The geological history of the North Sumatra Basin has a complex interplay of tectonic and depositional processes, therefore, understanding the burial history of the Late Oligocene sandstone reservoirs and the Eocene-Oligocene source rocks is key. By taking a play-based approach, the combination of all relevant data within a robust tectonostratigraphic and depth framework, Neftex®, has allowed for efficient predictions of potential source rock kitchens as well as reservoir presence and quality across the region. Taken all together, this helps to frame wider regional exploration pathways within the North Sumatra Basin.
As exploration efforts continue to expand into other parts of Indonesia and the wider Southeast Asian region, geological context, subsurface characterization, and fairway mapping innovations will be key drivers of success in the quest for new advantaged hydrocarbon resources and maximizing asset value.
