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Detailed Lithological Study Leads to New Insights about the Pre-Tertiary and
Tertiary Reservoirs in the Suban Gas Field, South Sumatra Basin, Indonesia

Conference Paper · September 2021

DOI: 10.29118/IPA21-G-91

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IPA21-G-91

PROCEEDINGS, INDONESIAN PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION

Forty-Fifth Annual Convention & Exhibition, September 2021

DETAILED LITHOLOGICAL STUDY LEADS TO NEW INSIGHTS ABOUT THE PRE-

TERTIARY AND TERTIARY RESERVOIRS IN THE SUBAN GAS FIELD, SOUTH SUMATRA
BASIN, INDONESIA

Budi R Permana*
Rita R Achdiat*
Riki Tasrianto*

ABSTRACT complex magmatism process in South Sumatra.

Oligocene carbonates that were identified in Suban
The basement igneous intrusive rock lithology in the could open the opportunity to discover a
South Sumatra Basin was previously suggested to be hydrocarbon-bearing Oligocene carbonate play in
a solely granitic rock. It is also a common knowledge the South Sumatra Basin.
that the Miocene Baturaja Formation carbonates are
one of the prolific reservoirs. However, after a INTRODUCTION
comprehensive reservoir recharacterization had been
conducted in the Suban Field, new insights regarding Suban field is in Corridor Block, South Sumatra
these two rock types were revealed. The basement Basin, Indonesia. The distance of the field is 176 Km
lithology consists of a more complex metasediment to the west-northwest of Palembang city (Figure-1).
containing Andesite, Granodiorite, and Gabbro and Suban contributes most of the gas sales production in
an Oligocene-age carbonate reservoir was also the Corridor Block. The field covers an area of
identified. approximately 91 kilometer square with a gross
thickness of circa 1,000 meters. This field is one of
The reservoir recharacterization was carried out by the Indonesian giant fields for fracture reservoir play
conducting an integrated analysis to reconstruct the (Satyana, 2019).
complex reservoir configuration utilizing seismic
data, core, cuttings, absolute age dating, and Suban-1 well was drilled in 1972 and was a
biostratigraphy. Seismic data was utilized as a successful technical discovery. Despite the
general framework for reservoir architecture due to discovery, the field was not immediately appraised
the resolution that allowed to describe the reservoir and developed. Instead, there was a period of 26
configuration in detail. Core and cuttings were used years before the next appraisal well was drilled. In
to identify the reservoir facies, and absolute age between the Suban-1 drilling (1972) and Suban-2
dating along with biostratigraphy were used to drilling (1998), the Dayung field and Sumpal field
construct geochronology for each reservoir facies. (Pujasmadi, et al., 2002) were discovered in 1991
Finally, well to well correlation was performed to and 1995 respectively as fracture gas reservoir in
reconstruct complex reservoir configurations. Corridor Block. 3D seismic was acquired in 1999
over Suban, 27 years after the initial discovery, six
The result of the study indicated that the reservoir wells were drilled for appraisal purposes as a result
age in the field can be divided into two parts, pre- from 1998 – 2002, and production started in 2003.
Tertiary (PRT) basement and Tertiary sediments.
The PRT of Suban Field comprises several types of A second 3D seismic acquisition was conducted in
crystalline rock that will have different respond to the 2003 and the seismic was re-processed three times in
stresses and the Tertiary section that consists of 2004, 2009, and 2018. Further drilling of 13 infill
clastic and several carbonate facies of different ages wells was executed up to 2018 to optimize
that vary across the study area. production. The data from the infill wells led to
greater insights for the reservoir characterization.
This study offers new insights regarding the In 2018, an infill well was drilled in the central area,
basement configuration and the emerging carbonate and the well performance was below the range of
play. Different igneous rock compositions reflect a expected uncertainty which led to questions on the

* ConocoPhillips
complexity of the reservoir. This led to a broader publication in 2016. Based on wells geochemical
reservoir characterization effort where the team data, good quality source rock comes from
would reevaluate and understand the available data Talangakar Formation, meanwhile Telisa Formation
and challenge existing understanding. The result is has fair quality source rock. The source rock maturity
an integrated GGRE (Geology-Geophysics- at the field is early mature, but to the basinward it is
Reservoir Engineering) study which incorporates all believed to be mature at gas window. Telisa
available data to build a comprehensive formation is acted as regional seal in this area
interpretation to get better understanding of Suban (Ginger and Fielding, 2005), especially for Suban
reservoir characteristics. field.

This paper will discuss reservoir characterization DATA AND METHODOLOGY

from detail lithological configuration to give a new
insight. In this study, the latest seismic reprocessing (2018)
and data from 23 wells are analyzed. The latest
Geological Setting seismic was reprocessed with the objective of image
improvement (Figure-4) in terms of frequency
Geological overview of Suban Field has been written content and enhancement of the continuity and
by several authors (Pujasmadi, et al., 2002; discontinuity events (Nurida, et al., 2019). Due to
Hennings, et al., 2012; Schultz, et al., 2014; low vertical seismic resolution especially at the main
Alaydrus, et al., 2018). In general, Suban Field lies reservoir, the seismic only can be used to interpret
on the center of the South Sumatra Basin which has the faults and Tertiary reservoir seismic marker for
a complex structural history (Figure-2). Reworked Baturaja carbonate and top Pre-Tertiary
Basement. Figure-5 shows a seismic cross-section
The basin was formed in the early Cenozoic by the from west to east with top Baturaja Formation (BRF)
extensional stress regime causing the rifting of equivalent and top Pre-Tertiary horizons.
Mesozoic and Paleozoic terrain in NE-SW oriented
direction. Later, during The Late Oligocene, Well data comprising of the well log, core, cutting,
compressional tectonics was initiating NW-SE absolute age, and biostratigraphy were used in this
anticlinal form and faults at Suban field. study. All wells have wireline or logging while
Compressional stress regime continued until the drilling (LWD) data. However, a complete set of logs
present day causing maximum shortening in Middle (gamma-ray, resistivity, neutron- density, sonic,
Miocene (Alaydrus, et al., 2018). image log) were acquired only in the early wells
during the appraisal stage. For infill wells, the log
Along with tectonic evolution, in the Eocene time, data acquired was more limited based on a “fit for
paleo high and paleo low were generated. The paleo purpose” philosophy as it was believed the
geomorphology created sedimentary understanding of the asset was relatively mature. The
accommodation spaces that were filled by clastic minimum log data are gamma-ray and resistivity.
terrestrial sediment. The marine incursion was Cutting data was taken for all the wells. Absolute age
happening in the Early Oligocene and depositing analysis was conducted using the U-Pb isotope for
marine carbonate and clastic sediment. The igneous rock and Strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopes for
transgressive event occurred and had reached the carbonate rock. Rock samples from five wells were
peak in the Middle Miocene. Thereafter, the being used for U-Pb isotope analysis while carbonate
regressive event occurred and transitional to rock samples (core plugs, sidewall core, and
terrestrial sediment was deposited. cuttings) from eight wells were being used for
Strontium isotope analysis. Micropaleontology or
In South Sumatra basin, the reservoir consists of biostratigraphy analysis had been conducted from
Paleozoic metasediment, Mesozoic igneous rock, nine wells for foraminifera, nanoplankton, and
and Tertiary sediment rock. The Tertiary sediment pollen. Figure-6 shows wells data availability across
rock comprises Eocene terrestrial sediment rock, the Suban field.
Oligocene Carbonate and transitional to marine
clastic sediment rock, and Early Miocene clastic The methodology that has been used to characterize
carbonate rock. Figure-3 shows a simplified detail reservoir lithology was started from seismic
stratigraphical column in Suban Field. data as a bulk framework for dividing basement and
Tertiary rock in combination with wells data. The
Petroleum system in Suban field and its surrounding next step was core and cutting data description
has been published by Permana et. al. at IPA coupled with the depositional environment from
biostratigraphy. Afterward, the age information porosity background trend in east area shows higher
came from biostratigraphy and absolute isotopes porosity compared to west-central area (Figure-11).
(absolute age dating is the highest hierarchy over
biostratigraphy age) was used to construct the Tertiary Section
sequence of the event. Finally, the information was
carried out to build well-to-well correlation by The oldest Tertiary rock in Suban is the Lemat
identifying well markers. Furthermore, the well-to- Formation that was identified by 2 wells in the
well correlation was used as a detailed frame to southeast area. A 9 meter core was cut from one of
reconstruct depositional system and reservoir the wells (Figure-12). Based on core data, this
geometry. Figure-7 shows the methodology diagram formation is dominated by Conglomerate rock with
for this study. small intercalation of sandstone and cobble
conglomerate. The current understanding interpreted
DETAILED LITHOLOGY DESCRIPTION Lemat Fm as an alluvial fan system that was
deposited during Eocene time in the paleo low area
Pre-Tertiary Basement Section above the basement toward the southeast area of
Suban.
Regionally, South Sumatra Basin basement is
dominated by Paleozoic meta-sediment rock (meta- In the west area, Durian Mabok Sand (DMS) was
limestone, quartzite, phyllites and schists) with some identified as the first sedimentary rock that was
Mesozoic intrusive and extrusive igneous rock deposited above the basement. The core was cut in
(Kusnama and Mangga, 2007; Guttormsen, 2010). one of the Suban wells (Figure-13). The rock is
Figure-8 shows the distribution of basement rock in predominantly angular quartz grain with a dark gray
the basin which is dominated by meta-sediment rock. matrix. Based on biostratigraphy data, most of the
The map was created based on well and gravity DMS was deposited in a terrestrial environment,
control (Guttormsen, 2009). The basement lithology however, at the upper part, the marine influence
and its lithological contact is impossible to starts appearing. Palynology indicates the occurrence
distinguish from seismic data. of angiosperm Dipterocarpaceae type which is
suggested the age of DMS Formation not older than
The Pre-Tertiary basement was penetrated by all Early Oligocene. The current interpretation suggests
Suban wells except Suban-1 and Suban-9. However, the depositional environment as an alluvial fan.
the basement cores were taken from 4 wells
representing the East, Central, and West segments. Thereafter DMS deposition, the marine incursion
Basement configuration comprises of Permian (248 was started in the Suban area from the southwest
MYA) Metasediment, Jurassic (180 MYA) Andesite, toward the northeast area. The first carbonate rock
Cretaceous (139 MYA) Granodiorite, and was growing at this time. Based on, the strontium
Cretaceous (110 MYA) Micro Gabbro. The lateral isotope age dating that was performed from four
lithology boundary among those crystalline rocks is SWC samples in this area, shows an age of circa 32
not clear, but the current interpretation is based on MYA or Early Oligocene. The carbonate rock is
wells and current structural style from seismic called Paleo-BRF. The distribution of Paleo-BRF
interpretation. Figure-9 exhibits basement rock was interpreted only in the central area of Suban.
configuration which Metasediment rock as a host
rock. The host rock was intruded by the various The next succession after Paleo BRF is LTAF. The
igneous rock that had been fractured by multi- rock distribution was identified from the Suban well
tectonic history. in the east area to the southeast area. The cores were
taken from two Suban wells in the east (Figure-14).
Two third of the area is dominated by granodiorite The first core (northern part) exhibits a sandstone
and one third is occupied by andesite, micro-gabbro, with quartz-dominated grain, grey to dark gray color,
and meta-sediment at the northwest area. In terms of medium grain, sub-rounded, moderately sorted,
rock strength, andesite and gabbro have less strength highly calcareous (the petrography shows calcite as
than granodiorite (Figure-10). Therefore, andesite the cement). The rock was interpreted to be deposited
and gabbro are more fractured compared to in a marine environment. The second core (southern
granodiorite with the same magnitude of stress. part) exhibits a sandstone with quartz dominated,
However, the current wells data are bias to sample grey to dark grey color, fine to medium grain,
location. Most of the wells that penetrated andesite subangular to subrounded, less calcareous,
and gabbro are vertical wells. In addition, the vertical conglomerate insertion, root trace. Palynology
indicates that the rock was deposited in the fluvial BRF Formation. The cores were cut from two wells
type of environment. in Suban (Figure-19). Strontium isotopes age dating
had been conducted for core plugs (two wells) and
In general, LTAF was deposited in fluvial to the cutting data (three wells). Total samples are 15 core
marine environment during Late Oligocene. During plugs and 6 cuttings. The result suggested that the
the time, the clastic started to invade the area from age range from 20-24 MYA (Early Miocene).
the northeast to the southwest. This phenomenon Morgan (2006) classified the rock as Down Slope
probably caused Paleo-BRF stopped growing and Gravity Flow Facies. These deposits consist of a mix
became a paleo barrier for the clastic influx to flow of biota, including corals, LBF, echinoderm,
to the southwest direction. Furthermore, the clastic siliceous sponge spicules, red algae, and planktic
flow has deviated toward the southeast area. In detail, forams. Clasts of mudstone to skeletal wackestone
LTAF Formation is divided into two facies. LTAF are also common. The fabric is muddy and ranges
Mouth Bar (LTAB MB) for the rock that had been from wackestone to floatstone. The limestones are
deposited in a marine environment and LTAF Feeder interbedded with calcareous burrows and marine
Channel (LTAF FC) for the rock that had been shales.
deposited in a fluvial environment.
RESERVOIR GEOMETRY
At the same time to the west area of Suban, the new RECONSTRUCTION
carbonate rock was growing. It was called Main-
BRF. Three cores were cut from this area (Figure- The detailed lithology description gave insights to
15). The cores were taken at the top of the Main BRF reconstruct the internal reservoir configuration and
reservoir only. Micropaleontology analysis suggests its lateral relationship. Figure-20, Figure-21, and
that this rock is an Oligocene age. Planktonic Figure-23 show the stratigraphical well-to-well
foraminifera suggests that the zone not older than correlation in Suban Field along with its reservoir
P22. Strontium age dating was conducted for 19 plug rock relationship.
samples and gave an estimated age range from 23-27
MYA. Detailed Main-BRF lithology description had Well-to-well correlation exhibits (west to east) the
been done by Morgan (2006) based on the cores data. changing of the limestone-dominated area to clastic-
The Main BRF was divided into four facies: Muddy dominated area. Whereas the east well-to-well
Facies, Grainy Facies, Boundstone Facies, and Open correlation shows the LTAF gross thickening to the
Marine Argillaceous Facies. southeast area. Lemat section can be observed in the
southeast area based on this correlation. At the west
Muddy Facies comprise skeletal wackestones and well to well correlation, the reef limestone has
mud-dominated packstones. Common skeletal dominated this area and facies are changing to the
components including corals, large benthonic southeast area become sandstone (LTAF) and clastic
foraminifera (LBF), small benthic foraminifera, and limestone (Reworked BRF).
red alga (Figure-16). The Grainy Facies include
skeletal grain-dominated packstones and grainstones Besides 2D section reconstruction from well-to-well
consisting of diverse biota of coral, LBF, correlation, a time-lapse lateral reconstruction had
echinoderms, red algae, and benthic forams (Figure- been conducted to understand lateral distribution.
17). Boundstone Facies can only reliably be The reconstruction was started from Eocene during
identified in the conventional core. It is uncommon Lemat Fm deposition, Early Oligocene during DMS
but occurs in all the cores. Figure-18 exhibits the deposition, Early Oligocene during the growth of
example of Boundstone Facies. Open Marine Paleo BRF, Late Oligocene during the deposition of
Argillaceous Facies consists of skeletal wackestones LTAF and the growth of Main BRF, and finally Early
to packstones and is distinguished by the presence of Miocene when Reworked BRF was deposited.
planktic forams. Most of these facies were found at Figure-23 exhibits the time-lapse lateral
the near top of DMS Fm by some of SWC. reconstruction that still contains body shape
uncertainty beyond well control.
The growing of Main BRF was along with the
transgressive event until the reef could not catch up CONCLUSION
with the rising of sea level and stopped growing.
Inside the big transgressive event, there were some Suban Field is one of the giant gas fields in Indonesia
small events of regression. Therefore, some clastic comprising of Pre-Tertiary basement (PRT) and
limestone intercalated by marine shale was deposited Tertiary sediments rock reservoirs. The PRT
around Main BRF. The rocks were called Reworked comprises of Permian metasediment rock that had
been intruded by various igneous rock (andesite, REFERENCES
granodiorite, and micro gabbro) during the Mesozoic
era. The Tertiary sediment comprises terrestrial Alaydrus, J., Nurida, S., Mohede, H., 2018,
sedimentary rock (Lemat and DMS), carbonate rock Optimizing Well Placement Strategy in A Giant
(Paleo-BRF, Main-BRF, and Reworked BRF), and Fractured Basement Gas Reservoir Through
marine to fluvial sedimentary rock (LTAF MB and Integrated Subsurface Analysis. A Case Study of The
LTAF FC). This Tertiary reservoir section was Suban Field, PROCEEDINGS, INDONESIAN
deposited from Eocene to the Early Miocene age. PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION Forty-Second
Annual Convention & Exhibition.
Several types of crystalline rock that constructed the
basement will impact the fracture characteristic. The Ginger, D., and Fielding, K., 2005, The Petroleum
current understanding gives an insight to have more System and Future Potential of the South Sumatra
fracture porosity in andesite and gabbro compared to Basin, IPA Proceeding 30th Annual Convention.
granodiorite. However, andesite and gabbro sit in
small part area of Suban. Hennings, P., Allwardt, P., Paul, P., Zahm, C., Reid
Jr., R., Alley, H., Kirschner, R., Lee, B., Hough, W.,
In the Tertiary section, the carbonate development 2012, Relationship between fractures, fault zones,
can be divided into 3 time-lapses. The first carbonate stress, and reservoir, productivity in the Suban gas
reef developed during the Early Oligocene time, field, Sumatra, Indonesia, AAPG Bulletin, V.96,
while the second carbonate reef developed during the No.4.
Late Oligocene that grew to the west of the first
carbonate reef. The third carbonate was deposited as Kusnama and Mangga, S.A., 2007, Perkembangan
a clastic carbonate with high marine influence Geologi dan Tektonik Pratersier Pada Mintakat
around the second carbonate reef. Kuantan Pegungungan Dua Belas dan Mintakat
Gumai-Garba, Sumatera Bagian selatan, JSDG Vo.
Current understanding regarding BRF in South XVII.
Sumatra Basin is the prolific carbonate reservoir rock
that was developing in Early Miocene time. In the Nurida, S., Syukri, I.Y., Andria, L., 2019, Improving
Suban case, the carbonate rock was deposited from Stratigraphic and Structural Interpretation of Suban
the Early Oligocene to the Early Miocene. Therefore, 3D Through Advanced Reprocessing,
this study opens the opportunity of the Oligocene PROCEEDINGS, INDONESIAN PETROLEUM
carbonate reservoir play in the South Sumatra Basin. ASSOCIATION Forty-Third Annual Convention &
Exhibition.
Granodiorite igneous rock dominates the west-
central basement area, and andesite-micro gabbro- Morgan, W.A., 2006, Depositional Facies of the
metasediment dominates the east basement area. Durian Mabok Limestone (Eocene? - Oligocene )
Meanwhile, the carbonate rocks dominate the west and Batu Raja Limestone (Miocene) in Suban Field,
and central area whether the clastic sediment rocks Corridor Block South Sumatra, Indonesia, Internal
dominate the east area. The various rock type Report.
constructed a complex reservoir configuration.
However, based on current understanding those Permana, B.R., Darmadi, Y., Sinaga, I.B.,
reservoirs are connected by fracture network that was Kusmawan, D., Saripudin, A., 2016, The Origin of
developed in this area. One of the challenges for Oil In The Telisa Formation, Suban Baru Field, and
developing this field is how placing the well to get The Next Exploration Path, PROCEEDINGS,
optimum production. INDONESIAN PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION,
2016 Technical Symposium, Indonesia Exploration:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Where From - Where To.

The authors would like to acknowledge Pujasmadi, B., Alley, H., Shofiyuddin, 2002, Suban
ConocoPhillips Grissik Ltd. management and Gas Field, South Sumatra, Example of a Fracture
Corridors Block’s partners (Repsol, PHE, PEP) to Basement Reservoir, Giant Field and New
permit this publication, Suban Recharacterization Exploration Concepts Seminar Indonesian
Teams for the tremendous effort (Chiefs: Rita Association of Geologist
Retnawati Achdiat, Ludy Andria, John Cheung; Elan Rockmass AS, Normal variation of compressive
Manoppo; Jamal Alaydrus; Reki Indrawan), Ksatria strength and the factor m in Hoek-Brown failure
D Wisesa (Suban core redescription). criteria for some rocks, Retrieved March 10, 2021,
from Schultz, R.A., Tong, X., Soofi, K.A., Sandwell, D.T.,
http://rockmass.net/files/compr_strength_table.pdf. Hennings, P.H., 2014, Satellite Interferometry and
The Detection of Active Deformation Associated
Satyana, A.H., 2019, Giant Fields of Indonesia: Play With Faults In Suban Field, South Sumatra Basin,
Types, Geologic Factors, And Prospectivities of Indonesia, PROCEEDINGS, INDONESIAN
Future Giant Fields, PROCEEDINGS, PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION Thirty-Eighth
INDONESIAN PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION Annual Convention & Exhibition.
Forty-Third Annual Convention & Exhibition.
Figure 1 - The location of Suban Field in South Sumatra basin.
Figure 2 - Suban field is located within the South Sumatra Basin. The island of Sumatra is at the convergence
of the Australian and Asian plate. Line of section A-A’ shows the structural style in South Sumatra
which consists of Cenozoic section unconformably overlying the Pre-Tertiary basement rocks.
Recent uplift has resulted in the formation of the Suban and other fields. (Alaydrus, et al., 2018,
modified after Hennings, et al., 2012).
Figure 3 - Suban field stratigraphic column.
Figure 4 - The comparison of Seismic image between 2009 (left) and 2018 (right) reprocessing results (Nurida, et al., 2019). The new processing result shows better
reflector continuity and less noise compared to the previous seismic.
Figure 5 - Seismic section from west to east exhibit two horizons which bound the complex reservoir stratigraphy of Suban Field. The latest seismic reprocessing (2018)
still cannot resolve complex reservoir stratigraphy.
Figure 6 - Well data availability in Suban Field consists of well data (logs), core data, absolute age dating and biostratigraphy data.
Figure 7 - Methodology diagram for the study
Figure 8 - Pre-Tertiary basement penetration lithology in South Sumatra Basin (Modified after Guttormsen, 2009).
Figure 9 - Basement lithological configuration consists of meta-sediment rock as a host that was intruded by various igneous rock from different age.
Figure 10 - Normal variation of compressive strength and the factor m in Hoek-Brown failure criteria for some rocks (Rockmass AS, 2021)
Figure 11 - Vertical porosity trend for the basement. The plots show the porosity background in east area is higher than west area.
Figure 12 - The example of Lemat Formation with the core. Showing conglomerate rock as the main rock
that constructed this formation.
Figure 13 - DMS core shows the conglomeratic/breccia rock.
Figure 14 - LTAF cores from two wells in the east area for Mouth Bar Facies (upper) and Feeder Channel facies (Lower).
Figure 15 - Main BRF core description from two wells in the west area.
Figure 16 - The Example of Muddy Facies from Main BRF in the west area.
Figure 17 - The example of Grainy Facies from Main BRF in the west area.
Figure-18: The example of Boundstone Facies from Main BRF. The conventional core (left) and thin section (right).
Figure 19 - The example of Down Slope Gravity Flow Facies from Reworked BRF in the west and east area.
Figure 20 - West to east well-to-well correlation that shows the facies changing from west to east area.
Figure 21- East well-to-well correlation shows the changing of LTAF gross thickness toward southeast area and the appearance of Lemat Fm in the southeast area.
Figure 22 - West well-to-well correlations shows the limestone domination and facies changing to the southeast.
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Figure 23 - The time-lapse of paleo-depositional setting (no scale) for each facies and the geometrical interpretation.

10.29118/IPA21.G.91, © 2021, Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA). This publication should not be uploaded to
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