Seismic Character and Reservoir Architecture of Miocene Deep Water Clastics of the North Sumatra Basin

Gidding, Michael; Hakim, Ferry B.; Meckel, Lawrence
Pexco, Jakarta, Indonesia.

Acquisition of the North Sumatra Basin's first exploration scale 3D marine seismic survey has revealed a Miocene stratigraphy rich in potential for deep water clastic reservoirs.

After a period of east-west extension in the Early Miocene, the North Sumatra Basin experienced long periods of regional subsidence punctuated by several compressional episodes, most commonly ascribed to the uplift of the Barisan Mountains to the south. During this time, broad pelagic depocentres received coarse clastic input from the east (Malacca Shelf) and later the south/south east (proto-Barisan Mountains) during periods of eustatic lowstand.

3D seismic data has revealed a variety of depositional architectures consistent with a range of deep water clastic facies from mid-slope channel systems, base-of-slope fans, chaotic mass transport complexes and large scale dendritic basin floor systems. These features are resolvable despite seismic data quality in the area often being compromised by broad scale detachment-related faulting and shale diapirism.

While most well data in the area are in excess of thirty years old and of limited value in the detailed interpretation of these clastics, the authors aim to present an integration of these data with 2012 exploration drilling results to augment the reservoir story unveiled by the 3D seismic.

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