Unveiling Subsurface Complexity: High-Resolution Model Building from a Central Luconia, Sarawak Case Study

The Central Luconia Province, situated within the Sarawak Basin of East Malaysia, stands as a significant hydrocarbon-producing field. While exploration efforts have yielded success, challenges persist, primarily stemming from the shallow-water environment and uncertainties of surrounding seismic reservoir definition.

To address these challenges, the Sarawak 3D multiclient program (Polygon 1B), was initiated in 2020. The program focused on the hydrocarbon-proven West Luconia area, characterized by Tertiary clastic and carbonate targets. The program aimed to overcome obstacles associated with complex faulting, folding, and shallow gas accumulations. These geological complexities present hurdles for seismic imaging, thereby increasing risks in reservoir characterization.

The geophysical earth model building methodologies employed leveraged a combination of full-waveform inversion (FWI), common-image-point (CIP) tomography, and Q tomography workflows. The objective in integrating these techniques is to construct detailed and precise velocity and Q models. These models not only enhance seismic imaging but also enable the definition of overburden heterogeneity and reveal hidden structures concealed by gas bodies.

Our approach represents a novel and comprehensive strategy to tackle the geological and geophysical challenges inherent in the Central Luconia Province. Through advanced earth modelling techniques, we have optimized production efforts which have benefit in unveiling the region’s hydrocarbon potentials.