Publications

The hydrocarbon exploration in the Greater Makassar Strait region now becomes challenging and attractive though some deep exploration wells drilled in the region have resulted in unsuccessful results. This is because of lack of subsurface data and poor understanding of the Paleogene petroleum system of the region though some geological and geophysical studies are available including geological fieldwork to review the stratigraphic sequences, structural development, and hydrocarbon seepage samples in the onshore southwestern Sulawesi and Kalimantan. However, many oil and gas fields have already been discovered and produced in the Neogene, shallower reservoirs. Regional geology, drilling results, and seismic interpretation suggest that the Early-Middle Eocene syn-rift sequence in the basins of onshore East Kalimantan region, ie. Kutei and Barito, basins in the Makassar Strait region, ie. North Makassar and South Makassar, basins in the west Sulawesi, ie. Lariang and Karama, and basins in the southwest Sulawesi, ie Sengkang, were all deposited in a non-marine lacustrine, fluvio-deltaic to restricted shallow marine depositional environments as a basin margin of Sundaland Craton. Later, strong marine influence started to occur in Late Eocene as the earliest marine transgression cycle in the region. Based on the palaeogeographic reconstruction and interpretation, and geochemical analyses, it is believed that mature shales and coals of the Eocene sequence become the major source rocks for hydrocarbon accumulation in the Paleogene reservoirs and may also include the Neogene sequence.