Hadrah-1 Discovery: An Attest to Integrated Working Approach with “Chasing Play” Mindset

There has been a growing interest in the Balingian/ Tatau province due to the new findings encountered. It began in 2019, whereby oil-bearing sands were discovered in the Oligocene sands in D-18 producing fields followed by, Sirung-1 discovery in 2021. In 2022, PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB) made a discovery in Hadrah-1 well, with gas sands encountered in the Lower Miocene-Oligocene stratigraphic intervals. The discovery of Hadrah-1 well made a significant impact to the Balingian/ Tatau region as it has opened up a new emerging play in the province. Historically, the primary focus of exploration West Balingian/ Tatau was centered around the Middle Miocene carbonates. As the well placements were planned based on the Middle Miocene carbonates, the majority of the wells failed to properly evaluate the Lower Miocene-Oligocene formations as the 2D seismic vintages below the carbonates were poor in quality and complex in nature. The Lower Miocene-Oligocene structures in West Balingian/ Tatau were difficult to image and map due to highly complex faulting and low signal to noise ratio.

This paper will describe the efforts and integrated approach made by PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB) to de-risk the Lower Miocene-Oligocene play, resulting in the discovery of Hadrah-1.