Abstract

The Flinders Prospect is located approximately 100km offshore Papua New Guinea, within Pliocene aged sediments at a depth of about 3100m. The Plio-Pleistocene section is characterised by a gently basinward dipping shelfal sequence overlaying southeasterly prograding silts, fine grained sands and mudstones rich in volcanic debris, that were deposited very rapidly as the hinterland was upthrust. The interpreted widespread occurrence of lowstand slope and basin floor fans, and shingled turbidites was established by the sequence work. The Flinders anomaly is interpreted to occur within a fan system associated with the depositional sequence designated DS60, which is believed to have been deposited in deep water some 60km from the paleo-shelf break near the Dibiri-1A well. In view of this large distance, detached basin-floor fans are more likely to occur at the Flinders location than are slope fans. The regional seismic display shows the section of interest prograding to the southeast. The Flinders anomaly is evident at about 2800msec travel time, located on the DS60 sequence boundary south of the Pasca ridge. The occurrence of gas/condensate at Pasca-A supports the assertion that a petroleum system has been active in the Pasca area. The source rock interval is likely to be located in the Aure, Pasca and Flinders Troughs where Tertiary sediments are presently thermally mature. The Flinders and Aure Troughs are considered to be the most likely source areas for a potential accumulation at Flinders. The condensate yield recorded in Pasca-A1 was as high as 125bbl/mmscf. The yield in Pasca-A2 was more conservative in the 60 to 74bbl/mmscf range.

Keywords: Pasca-A • Pandora • Uramu

Presented at: 2009 South East Asia Petroleum Exploration Society (SEAPEX) Conference, Singapore, 2009