“Unexplored hydrocarbon opportunities in Seram offshore of Eastern Indonesia”

The study area in offshore Seram, Eastern Indonesia has an approximate coverage of 11000 km2 with water depths ranging from 50–1500 m. The project aims to assess the exploration potential and prospectivity of the region, where a proven petroleum system exists onshore with oil and gas fields.

Oil production in Seram Island comes from the Plio-Pleistocene Fufa/Salas Formations and Jurassic Manusela Carbonate. Significant gas and oil/condensate reserves have been discovered in the Manusela carbonate, totaling over 2 TCF of gas and 60 MMBL of oil/condensate.

The structural complexity of the Seram area is due to a fold-thrust-belt (FTB) with varying fold axis orientations along the margins. Challenges include defining the structure framework with limited seismic imaging. Various exploration methods, such as gravity mapping, high bathymetry resolution map, seismic data, wells, analogue sandbox modelling and structural reconstruction have been utilized to identify structural provinces and patterns for further exploration in the offshore area.