Hydrocarbon accumulation in an active accretionary prism, a case study in the deepwater Rakhine Basin, Myanmar offshore. (November 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Luan, Xiwu; Islam, Mohammad Saiful; Wei, Xinyuan; Lu, Yintao; Fan, Guozhang; Pau, Suang Khan; Lwin, Soe Moe
• Is Part Of: Journal of Asian earth sciences. Volume 221(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-11
• Subjects: Rakhine Basin -- Offshore Myanmar -- Anticline structures -- Turbidite channels -- Hydrocarbon accumulation model; Earth sciences -- Asia -- Periodicals; Sciences de la terre -- Asie -- Périodiques; Earth sciences; Asia; Periodicals; 555.05
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jseaes.2021.104941
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1367-9120

Abstract

Graphic abstract: Overpass Bridge Model of Petroleum system for Rakhine deep water, offshore Myanmar. Highlights: The anticline structures within the accretionary wedge act as conduits for fluids migration. Submarine channel-levees can serve as reservoirs for deep migrated fluids. The intersections of the two systems should be the main targets for future exploration. Abstract: The Rakhine Basin, Myanmar offshore has remained unproductive for a long time. The discovery of biogenic gas in 2004 and the followed dry wells in 2007 have made the exploration in this area more complicated. 2D/3D seismic data newly acquired after 2007 has been interpreted, distributions of anticline structures and turbidite channels have been mapped. Combined with the newly drilled well data and the regional geological setting analysis, a model for hydrocarbon accumulation has been established. We show that under deep-water environment and due to the thick sedimentary volume, neither the turbidite channels, nor the anticline structures can accumulate hydrocarbon alone. Only if turbidite channels pass across the anticline structures, hydrocarbons from the deep sour rocks will migrate upward through conduits to the anticline traps and fill into the turbidite sands overhead to form hydrocarbon reservoirs. The intersections of the turbidite channels and the anticline structures should be the main targets for future gas exploration in the deep-water Rahkine Basin, offshore Myanmar.