Title: PROCEEDINGS, INDONESIAN PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION Thirty-Third Annual Convention & Exhibition, May 2009 HYDROCARBON PROSPECTIVITY OF THE SAVU SEA BASIN
Abstract: The Savu Sea Basin is a highly underexplored basin situated between the islands of Flores to the north, Sumba to the west, Timor to the east and the Australian continental shelf to the south. It lies within the southern limb of the Banda Arc, which is the collision zone between the northern margin of the Australian Shelf to the south and the oceanic island arc system which borders the Eurasian plate to the north. Two seismic surveys, acquired in 2002 and 2007 now reveal details of the basin and the surrounding tectonic regimes revealing potential for successful hydrocarbon exploration. The basin covers an area in excess of 50,000sq.km. and in its deepest parts has up to 4.8km of sediment. The surrounding islands have been the subject of detailed geological surveys, in some cases dating back to the late 19th century. However, no wells have been drilled in the basin itself and correlation of seismic horizons is dependent on regional considerations and extrapolation of onshore geology to the offshore. The origin of the basin is highly complex, being situated within an area affected by four to five phases of rifting and interspersed phases of uplift and erosion and overprinted in recent geological time by collision tectonics. It is likely that the oldest rocks in the basin are at least Late Triassic age similar to those on the island of Seram, situated on the northern limb of the arc. The Australian shelf to the south is an established petroleum province as is the Island of Seram. Oil seeps are prevalent on the island of Timor and are scattered across the offshore region as well. The seismic data recently acquired across the basin shows a significant number of gas chimneys and bright amplitudes which may be associated with hydrocarbon migration and trapping. Further evidence for the existence of a petroleum system in the basin comes from satellite seep data. Numerous seeps are evident across the basin and
Publication Year: 2011
Publication Date: 2011-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot