Comparison of Central and Southeast Asia Carbonate Fields: Reservoir Properties, Petroleum System and Challenges

Darman, Herman; van der Kooij, Bram
Shell International EP, The Hague, Netherlands.

Central Asia fields (e.g. Kashagan, Astrakhan, Karachaganak, Tengiz) are located in Pricaspian basin. Their carbonate reservoir are mainly Carboniferous in age and generally sealed by Kungurian salt. The areal size of these fields are several hundred square kilometers. Each fields hold hundreds of meters of hydrocarbon column. Many of them have very little porosities but fractures helped on the hydrocarbon production. Apart from the porosity, the sulfur content is also a big challenge.

Southeast Asia fields (e.g. Natuna, Malampaya and Luconia) are located in highly tectonized region. The reservoirs are mainly Tertiary carbonates with corals. Fine clastic layers covered these limestone bodies as seals. These fields have higher porosity compare to the carbonate fields in Central Asia but their areal size are much smaller (< 100 sqkm). None of these fields contain sulfur but CO2 may occur in some area.

These comparison will give a better picture of field performances in Asia and increase the awareness of the exploration risk. Recent seismic images helped to understand the carbonate complex and the petroleum system.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90155©2012 AAPG International Conference & Exhibition, Singapore, 16-19 September 2012