DETERMINING THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SOURCE ROCK AND THE OIL SEEPAGE IN THE TRANSECT AREA LOCATED IN MIRI FORMATION: APPLYING THE GEOCHEMICAL ANALYSES AS THE MAIN APPROACHES

In order to study the origin and the characteristics of the oil from the oil seepage area
and the source rock the geochemical approaches are considered to be the most
appropriate tools of all. The geochemical approaches of Total Organic Carbon
Content (TOC), Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Ultravioletvisible
spectroscopy (UV-Vis) will be the main analyses in this project in which the
study area was conducted at the oil seepage of the transect area located in the Miri
Formation, Sarawak. The Miri Hill structure is considered to be an asymmetric,
slightly overturned, northeast-trending anticline, bounded to the southeast by a set of
northwest-hading steep normal faults, of which the Shell Hill Fault. Miri Formation
is mainly composed of underlying argillaceous Setap Shale with the upper part is
dominated by arenaceous sandstone. The oil – source rock correlation will be carried
out by studying the rock samples of the source rock, the Setap Shale of different beds
and the oil seepage found at the seepage area. The similarities in terms of the
chemical composition of the source rock and the oil seepage will be observed and
discussed. The samples were taken from three study areas. The oil seepage area is
located at 4°24'04.5"N, 113°59'57.1"E and the shale sample areas are located at
4°22'53.8"N, 113°59'27.1"E and 3°48'37.1"N, 113°44'25.8"E. These three areas will
be the main study areas of this project.