Abstract

This study looked at a comparison of the seismic expression of turbiditic deposits of Pleistocene to recent times from two different basins in Indonesia. Deep-water plays are usually associated with an efficient 'delta fed' turbidite system, such as those of offshore East Kalimantan in the Kutei Basin. However, a study in the Offshore North Sumatra Basin shows that turbidite deposits can also be expected in areas with inefficient fluvial transportation systems, as long as there is a 'local sediment source' identified.

High quality 3D seismic data in the Offshore North Sumatra Basin provided superb images of depositional elements in the basin plain setting. These are compared with images from associated basin floor depositional systems of the Offshore Kutei Basin.

The depositional elements of the recent deposits in the two basins are mainly controlled by the tectonic setting, the slope morphology, distance from sediment source and the sediment load. The seismostratigraphic analysis of the vertical succession of the two turbidite systems confirms this interpretation. In conclusion, an "inefficient turbidite system" such as the one identified in the Offshore North Sumatra Basin (NSB) can also be considered to have reservoir potential, and therefore be a potential hydrocarbon play.