EVALUATION OF HYDROCARBON GENERATION OF TERTIARY SEDIMENTS IN THE CENTRAL PART OF THE MERGUI BASIN, THAILAND

Abstract

The Mergui basin is located in the Andaman Sea, Thailand, and is thought to represent a back arc basin. To date, only minor gas and oil shows have been discovered by ten exploration wells drilled in this area. Hence, the comprehension of hydrocarbon potential of this basin plays a key role for future exploration and development. In this report, 1-D basin Mod model was used to study the quantity and timing of hydrocarbon generation of Tertiary sediments in the central part of the Mergui basin. Modeling results showed that hydrocarbon generation in this area has occurred since the latest middle Miocene, but the conversion of kerogen to hydrocarbons to date has been relatively small or insufficient for expulsion. Hence, the hydrocarbon potential for the central part of the Mergui basin is small. If the total volume of source rocks were very large, however, could such minor conversion and expulsion lead to a major gas and oil accumulation. The model is sensitive to heat flow, thermal maturity, and kerogen types so we should be careful when extrapolating our conclusions to the entire area.