Hydrocarbon source potential of Eocene-Miocene sequence of Western Sabah, Malaysia

Abstract

An evaluation of the petroleum generating potential of onshore Eocene-Miocene sequences of Western Sabah, Malaysia was performed based on organic petrological and geochemical methods. The sequences analysed are the Belait, Meligan, Temburong and West Crocker formations of western Sabah. The Belait Formation which is Stage IV equivalent in the offshore represents one of the major source rock/reservoirs of the petroleum-bearing Sabah Basin. The Eocene-Early Miocene West Crocker and Temburong formations are deepwater turbidites whilst the Miocene Meligan and Belait formations are shallow marine fluvio-deltaic deposits. The vitrinite reflectance and pyrolysis Tmax values show that the Belait samples are generally immature for hydrocarbon generation, whereas the Meligan, Temburong and West Crocker samples are in the mature to late maturity stage of hydrocarbon generation. The overall bulk source rock properties of the Belait and Meligan show fair to good petroleum source rock potential with TOC more than 1 wt %, hydrocarbon yield in the range of 400–1300 ppm and moderately high HI for many of the samples. Most of the samples representing the Temburong and West Crocker formations have TOC less than 1 wt% and have no to fair hydrocarbon generating potential. Interestingly, the samples collected in the West Crocker Formation characterized by slump deposits (MTD) have TOC>2 and possess good to excellent hydrocarbon generating potential. The organic matter present in all of the studied formations is mainly of terrigenous origin based on the abundance of woody plant materials observed under the microscope. Consequently, the analysed sequences are predominantly gas prone, dominated by Type III and Type III-IV kerogen except for minor occurrence of mixed oil-gas prone Type II-III kerogen in the Belait Formation and in the slump mass transport deposits (MTD) of the West Crocker Formation.