Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources of Southeast Asia

Schenk, Christopher J.
U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, CO.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessed the potential for undiscovered conventional oil and gas fields within twenty three geologic provinces of southeast Asia including provinces entirely or partially within Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, China, and Philippines. For conventional oil resources, the mean total is 21,632 MMBO, with a range from 8,922 to 41,558 MMBO; for undiscovered conventional gas the mean total is 298,761 billion cubic feet (BCFG), with a range from 128,908 BCFG to 557,051 BCFG; and a mean total of 9,099 million barrels of natural gas liquids (MMBNGL), with a range from 3,828 to 17,216 MMBNGL.

Of the mean oil total of 21,632 MMBO, about 70 percent is estimated to be in six provinces—Baram Delta/Brunei-Sabah Basin (mean of 4,278 MMBO), Kutei Basin (mean of 3,215 MMBO), South China Sea Platform (mean of 2,522 MMBO), East Java Basin (mean of 2,036 MMBO), Cuu Long Basin (mean of 1,735 MMBO), and Thai Basin (mean of 1,212 MMBO). In addition, several provinces are estimated to have potential oil volumes greater than 500 MMBO—Northwest Java Basin (mean of 726 MMBO), Tarakan Basin (mean of 707 MMBO), Nam Con Son Basin (mean of 685 MMBO), Malay Basin (mean of 664 MMBO), Greater Sarawak Basin (mean of 643 MMBO), and Pearl River Mouth Basin (mean of 608 MMBO).

For the mean undiscovered gas total of 298,761 BCFG, about 60 percent is estimated to be in six provinces—Kutei Basin (mean of 46,001 BCFG), Greater Sarawak Basin (mean of 38,073 BCFG), East Java Basin (mean of 31,489 BCFG), Baram Delta/Brunei-Sabah Basin (mean of 26,375 BCFG), South China Sea Platform (mean of 25,519 BCFG), and Nam Con Son Basin (mean of 14,600 BCFG). Several other provinces are estimated to have potential gas volumes greater than 10,000 BCFG—Thai Basin (mean of 14,583 BCFG), Phu Khanh Basin (mean of 13,040 BCFG), Tarakan Basin (mean of 12,675 BCFG), Song Hong Basin (mean of 12,266 BCFG), and Malay Basin (mean of 12,088 BCFG). Overall, the assessment indicates that (1) more than 90 percent of the undiscovered oil and gas resources are offshore, and (2) there is more than twice as much undiscovered gas resource (298,761 BCFG, or 49,794 MMBOE) than undiscovered oil resource (21,632 MMBO) in the provinces of southeast Asia using a barrels of oil equivalent conversion.

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