Publications

Seram basin is one of the several prolific basins in eastern Indonesia, producing oil since the late 1890s. The petroleum system in the Seram area is proven, as shown by producing oil fields and the discovery of gas/oil structures. In addition, the current study shows that the east-southeast Seram offshore area is also promising for petroleum accumulation as indicated by several hydrocarbon occurrences based on seabed cores. It brings the confidence that the hydrocarbon accumulation may extend from proven producing fields and discovery structures onshore to offshore areas. At least two play types are proven to be prolific on Seram Island. The first is the Plio-Pleistocene post-collision play type formed by molassic deposits of the Fufa Formation. The Bula oil field, the first field discovered in eastern Indonesia in 1897, is a field in Seram of this play type. The second play type is the Jurassic Manusela carbonate, proved by the Oseil oil field of approximately 70 MMBO oil accumulation, and the discovery of Lofin with approximately 2 TCF gas. The Play-Based Exploration (PBE) approach evaluates hydrocarbon resources in the southeast Seram offshore. The PBE evaluation begins with basin focus, play focus, and finally prospect focus. Common risk segment (CRS) and CCRS (Composite Common Risk Segment) maps are the final results of the PBE approach, showing the potential and risk assessment of petroleum accumulation. The study reveals southeast Seram offshore to have potential hydrocarbon accumulation with medium to high risks. Typically, the identified leads are related to sub-thrust play due to being located at a fold-thrust belt (FTB), trending northwest-southeast with Jurassic carbonates as potential reservoirs. While in the southeasternmost area, several structures exist apparently related to northwest-southeast thrust fault and strike-slip faulting.