Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of Papua-New Guinea, Eastern Indonesia, and East Timor, 2011

World Petroleum Resources Project

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 5.8 billion barrels of oil and 115 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas in five geologic provinces in the areas of Papua New Guinea, eastern Indonesia, and East Timor.

Introduction

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessed the potential for undiscovered conventional oil and gas fields within five geologic provinces of eastern Asia as part of the USGS World Petroleum Resources Assessment Project. This study follows the USGS assessment of 23 provinces in Southeast Asia (Schenk and others, 2010). The five geologic provinces assessed in this study are the Banda Arc, Bintuni−Sulawati, Arafura Basin−Irian Jaya, New Guinea Foreland Basin-Fold Belt, and the Papuan Basin-Shelf Platform (fig. 1). Assessment units (AU) defined within these provinces are (1) Banda Arc Province—Timor Thrust Structures AU and Seram Thrust Structures AU; (2) Bintuni− Sulawati Province—Sulawati Basin AU, Bintuni Basin AU, and Lengguru Fold Belt AU; (3) Arafura Basin−Irian Jaya Province—Arafura Platform AU and Irian Jaya Fold Belt AU; (4) New Guinea Foreland Basin-Fold Belt Province—Papua New Guinea Fold Belt AU; and (5) Papuan Basin-Shelf Platform Province—Papua Platform AU (table 1). The methodology for the assessment included a complete geologic framework description for each AU based mainly on published literature. Exploration and discovery history was a critical part of the methodology used to estimate sizes and numbers of undiscovered accumulations. Where the discovery history of an AU was immature, geologic analogs were used in the assessment as a guide to sizes and numbers of undiscovered oil and gas accumulations. Each AU was assessed for undiscovered oil and nonassociated gas accumulations, and co-product ratios were used to calculate the volumes of associated gas (gas in oil fields) and volumes of natural gas liquids.

Figure 1. Locations of five geologic provinces within the Papua New Guinea, eastern Indonesia, and East Timor areas of eastern Asia assessed in this study (AU, assessment unit).

Resource Summary

The USGS assessed undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources in the nine assessment units that are defined within the five geologic provinces of the Papua New Guinea, eastern Indonesia, and East Timor areas, with the following results: (1) for conventional oil resources, the mean total for all AUs is 5,781 million barrels of oil (MMBO), with a range from 2,244 to 11,218 MMBO; (2) for undiscovered conventional gas, the mean total is 115,158 billion cubic feet of gas (BCFG), with a range from 45,386 to 221,445 BCFG; and (3) for natural gas liquids (NGL), the mean total is 2,464 MMBNGL, with a range from 953 to 4,811 MMBNGL (table 1).

Of the mean undiscovered oil total of 5,781 MMBO, about 36 percent (2,106 MMBO) is estimated to be in two AUs within the Banda Arc Province: Timor Thrust Structures AU (mean of 1,275 MMBO) and Seram Thrust Structures AU (mean of 831 MMBO). Another 37 percent of undiscovered oil is estimated to be in the fold and thrust belts of Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya (Papua New Guinea Fold Belt AU, 1,215 MMBO, and the Irian Jaya Fold Belt AU, 932 MMBO).

For the mean undiscovered gas total of 115,158 BCFG, there is significant potential for undiscovered nonassociated gas resources (gas in gas fields) in all AUs (table 1). Of note are the mean estimates for undiscovered gas resources for the Papua New Guinea Fold Belt AU (18,138 BCFG), the Arafura Platform AU (15,910 BCFG), and the Bintuni Basin AU (20,787 BCFG).

For Further Information

Supporting studies of the geologic models and the methodology used in the assessment of these five provinces in eastern Asia are in progress. Assessment results are available at the USGS Energy Program website, http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/oilgas/.

Reference Cited

Schenk, C.J., Brownfield, M.E., Charpentier, R.R., Cook, T.A., Klett, T.R., Kirschbaum, M.A., Pitman, J.K., and Pollastro, R.M., 2010, Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of Southeast Asia; 2010: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2010-3015, 2 p.

Eastern Asia Assessment Team:

Christopher J. Schenk, Michael E. Brownfield, Ronald R. Charpentier, Troy A. Cook, Timothy R. Klett, Janet K. Pitman, and Richard M. Pollastro.

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