A Game Change in Exploration - Redefining the Early Miocene Carbonate Play in Central Luconia, Sarawak Basin, Malaysia

The Early Miocene carbonates or Cycle II carbonates play is a poorly understood and not so well established play in Central Luconia Province, Sarawak Basin, Malaysia. This is due to the discouraging results from wells penetrating down to this section with problems mainly related to the poor reservoir quality. However, recently, the drilling of a field in North Eastern part of Central Luconia Province had resulted to a successful massive hydrocarbon discovery with this play concept but with different reservoir behaviour where the carbonate is highly fractured and very vuggy. Despite the strange indication from log responses, optimistic approaches were taken which resulted to the unveiling of the ultimate exploration goal. This discovery is seen as a game change where it redefined the play of Early Miocene carbonate thus opening more doors for exploration.