IPA14-G-276 PROCEEDINGS, INDONESIAN PETROLEUM ASSOCIATION Thirty-Eighth Annual Convention & Exhibition, May 2014 SUCCESSFUL AND PROSPECTIVE EXPLORATION PLAY CONCEPTS OF INDONESIA: LESSONS FROM HISTORY AND RECENT PROGRESS – ANTICIPATING FUTURE CHALLENGES Awang Harun Satyana* ABSTRACT Geologically, Indonesia occupies one of the most complicated areas on Earth. This tectonic setting provides Indonesia with numerous sedimentary basins and interbasin areas where petroleum accumulations are either proven or possible. Controlled largely by different geological histories from Western to Eastern Indonesia, the pattern of petroleum accumulations differs across the archipelago. Indonesia may also be the most diverse petroliferous countries in the world with at least 50 proven petroleum systems. This paper will regionally review the successful exploration play concepts applied in Indonesia for it’s almost 130 year-history of petroleum production. The successful play concepts can be applied in areas with similar geologic histories but less explored. The paper also discusses prospective play types in Indonesia that are only just proven or not proven yet, but their presence are indicated by numerous seeps. This regional review will provide us with lessons of the history on exploring hydrocarbons in Indonesia, and their application for anticipating future challenges. To remain viable, companies will have to explore. “When no man any longer believes more oil is left to be found, no more oil field will be discovered, but so long as a single oil-finder remains with a mental vision of a new oil field to cherish, along with freedom and incentive to explore, just so long new oil fields may continue to be discovered” (Pratt, 1952). INTRODUCTION For almost 130 years, since the beginning of commercial petroleum industry in 1885, oil and gas have played an important role in the development of Indonesia. Indonesia today still remains dependent on the petroleum industry to fuel the nation’s * SKK Migas development and as a primary energy source for more than its 240 million people. Gas production started to be significant in 1977 when Arun giant gas field in North Sumatra commenced to produce. Gas fields have been increasingly discovered and produced since then. The declining oil production was compensated by increasing gas production. In 2002, gas production in million barrels equivalent exceed oil production. Geologically, Indonesia occupies one of the most complicated areas on Earth. The archipelago is made up of three major crustal plates and numerous micro-plates of both continental and oceanic origins. This tectonic setting provides Indonesia with numerous sedimentary basins and inter-basin areas where petroleum accumulations are either proven or possible. Controlled largely by the different geological regimes of Western and Eastern Indonesia, the pattern of petroleum accumulations differs across the archipelago. Understanding the geological evolution and how the various sedimentary basins developed, are the keys to understanding the petroleum systems of the sedimentary basins. Knowledge of the petroleum habitat has been developing since the 1970s when exploration in Indonesia reached its maximum with a comprehensive understanding of the large number of sedimentary basins and petroleum provinces encountered throughout the archipelago. Description of the petroleum systems of Indonesia can thus rest upon a foundation of an extensive, comprehensive and reliable database that can be found, for the most part, in the public domain. Many of the publications are detailed, but several regional overviews have been published through the years such as: Soeparjadi et al. (1975), Howes and Tisnawijaya (1995), Doust and Sumner (2007), and Doust and Noble (2008). This paper will review and present a regional overview of the play concepts/types in Indonesia,