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Asia Pacific Region Contains Abundant, Untapped Reservoirs of Source Rocks

 

Recent developments and discovery of source rocks in the Asia Pacific region presents a renewed interest in maximising and increasing efforts in exploration and production projects in the industry. As shale gas is produced by the extraction of source rocks in sedimentary basins and shale gas plays, being able to correctly locate it via subsurface source rock mapping methodologies in basins is a huge economical opportunity. Countries such as Malaysia, China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Thailand all contain an abundance of reservoirs, and more study is required to unlock these reserves.

 

What are source rocks?

In petroleum geology, source rocks are organic-rich sediments deposited in various environments. They form one of the necessary elements of a petroleum system, otherwise known as a petroleum reservoir or an oil and gas reservoir where a subsurface pool of hydrocarbons is contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Hence, oil and gas are capable of being generated from them.

 

Source rocks in the Songkhla basin, Thailand   

According to a study done by American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG),  the Songkhla basin located near the gulf of Thailand has potential source of rock intervals. The Songkhla basin is located in the western Gulf of Thailand and covers an area of about 2,500km2. It contains several oil producing fields and more work is needed to improve the understanding of source rock distribution and maturation in the Songkhla Basin.

 

Source rocks in the Malay basin 

The Malay basin primarily comprised of the waters of Malaysia, with smaller areas in Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia. The Malay basin is entirely offshore and is a tertiary oil and gas province composed of a complex of half grabens that were filled by lacustrine shales and continental clastics. Hydrocarbon reserves that have been discovered amount to equivalent of 12 billion barrels of oil, and an estimated 6.3 billion barrels of oil by the year 2025. (U. S. Geological Survey World Energy Assessment Team, 2000).

 

Petroleum Fluids & Source Rocks in E&P is a 3-day course held from 22 – 24 October 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, designed to provide participants with a detailed analysis and presentation of all types of petroleum source rocks. The course will cover a thorough and detailed analysis of petroleum fluids and its movement in the subsurface and formation pressure analysis. For more information, please visit us at http://www.opuskinetic.com/training or contact us at info@opuskinetic.com.

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