Northern New Guinea hydrocarbon potential: New constraints from tectonic subsidence analysis and seismic stratigraphy

Abstract

Tectonic subsidence analysis of borestratigraphic package is immature, consisholes north of the Bewani-Torricelli-Prince tent with observed low present-day geother Alexander Mountain (BTPA) range of Northern ma1 gradients. Present day oi l seeps in Papua New Guinea reveals rapid post-Eocene Northern New Guinea are anomalous when tectonic subsidence punctuated by two discompared to these computations. We suggest t inc t episodes of tec tonic upl i f t . These two hypotheses: Either the oil was generatpulses resulted from near-field changes in ed as a result of local (igneous) thermal strain produced by segmented evolution of events, or as our seismic data suggests, the the sinistral Northern New Guinea wrench oil migrated along conduits associated with fault system. Periods of slow tectonic subm a j o r t h r u s t f a u l t s y s t e m s f r o m d e e p e r sidence are marked by carbonate-dominated buried source rocks to the south. sediment deposition whereas episodes of greatest tectonic subsidence are predomina t e ly s i l i c i c l a s t i c . Our outcrop-to-borehole reconnaissance demonstrates that these sequences are primarily fine-grained, protected shelf-to-slope facies with uncommon biolithites, grainstones, and coarse-grained s i l i c i c l a s t i c s .