SEDIMENTARY BASINS IN THE PHILIPPINES

1. North Palawan-Mindoro Basin

 It is a broad platform in the west-central Philippines.
 It covers an area of 130,000 sq km, 95% of which is offshore.
 It is the largest basin in the country.
 Its late Mesozoic and Tertiary marine clastic-carbonate section has a thickness of
over 10 km of which the Tertiary fill probably attains as much as 4 to 5 km.
 The basin is part of the Kalayaan-Calamian Microplate, which rifted from the
South China continental margin. Thus it is considered a rift basin.
 Proven reservoir rocks are upper Oligocene and Lower Miocene reefal, turbiditic
and fractured platform limestones, and Eocene to Lower Miocene quartzose
sandstones of various facies including turbidites and shelfal types.

2. Southeast Luzon Basin

 Consists of narrow, northwest-trending horst and graben features. Covers an
area of 40,000 sq km of which 50% lies onshore.
 Considered a backarc basin.
 The basin fill is composed of Oligocene to Holocene clastics and carbonates of
shallow to deep marine environments.
 The deepest grabens contain up to 9 km of Tertiary sediments.
 Proven reservoir rocks are Upper Oligocene to Upper Miocene transitional to
shallow marine sandstones and Middle Miocene turbidite sandstones.
 Potential reservoirs include Upper Oligocene to Miocene reefs and reef talus.

3. Visayan-Samar Basin
 Covers an area of about 80,000 km sq km in central Philippines.
 It is defined by a series of north to northeast-trending narrow troughs of varying
sizes, depths and sediment thickness.
 Sixty percent of the basin lies offshore.
 Cenozoic sediments consist of a multi-cyclical, Upper Oligocene to Holocene
clastic carbonate sequence deposited in transitional to bathyal environments.
 The basin is considered a backarc basin.
 The Oligocene to Lower Miocene carbonaceous shales have good potential to
generate oil with gas.
 Upper Oligocene to Upper Miocene reefal limestones, dolomites and sandstones
of various facies like turbidites and shallow marine types provide potential
reservoirs.
4. Sulu Sea Basin
 The basin has an area of 60,000 sq km and includes parts of the continental
shelf and slope of Northeast Borneo, Malaysia. The southwestern edge of the
basin lies partly in Malaysian territory.
 The Balabac and Bancauan sub-basins are forearc basins, which contain mostly
Paleogene to Neogene shallow to deep marine clastics of over 5 km and 3 km
thickness, respectively.
 The Sandakan Sub-Basin contains over 9 km-thick Neogene fluviodeltaic clastics
with minor reefal limestones, superimposed on backarc-deposited, deep marine
sediments of Paleogene age.
 Proven reservoir rocks are Miocene deltaic sandstones in the Sandakan sub-
basin and Upper Miocene deep marine sandstones in the Balabac sub-basin.

5. South Palawan Shelf-Reed Bank

 This area includes the Reed Bank, Southwest Palawan Shelf (southwest of
Uligan Bay-Fault) and the Dangerous Grounds area.
 Covers an area of 100,000 sq km, 90% of which lies in the South China Sea.
 A large portion of the basin is part of the Kalayaan-Calamian Microplate which
drifted from the South China continental margin.
 Basin fill is composed of Upper Mesozoic to Quarternary marine clastic-
carbonate sequences. Clastic sections include quartose and arkosic sandstones.
 This basin is considered a rift basin modified by collision or compressional
tectonics.

6. Agusan-Davao Basin
 This basin is a north-south trending asymmetrical trough covering 18,000 sq km
in eastern Mindanao of which 70% of the basin lies onshore.
 Basin fill consists of a Cenozoic mixed clastic-carbonate sequence deposited in
mostly shallow marine to transitional environments.
 The basin is considered a forearc basin.
 Deformation is mainly controlled by convergent shearing associated with the
Philippine Fault System.
 Proven reservoir rocks are Upper Miocene to Pliocene turbidite sandstones.

7. Cotabato Basin
 This basin is northwest-trending trough in south-central Mindanao with an areal
extent of at least 5,500 sq km.
 The basin lies almost entirely onshore.
 The principal basin consists of Holocene mixed clastic carbonate fill representing
shallow to deep marine facies.
  Deformation patterns are mostly related to arc-arc convergence in the eartern
margin.
 The basin is considered a backarc basin.
 No potential source rocks have been identified in the area although several oil
seeps and oil gas shows imply the presence of mature source rocks in the
subsurface.
 Potential reservoir rocks are predominantly shallow marine sandstones.

8. Cagayan Basin
 It is a north-south trending asymmetrical trough covering 28,000 sq km of
northeast Luzon.
 Eighty percent of the basin lies onshore.
 The 9-km thick trough fill consists essentially of an Upper Oligocene to Holocene
mixed clastic-carbonate sequence representing shelf, slope and basin facies.
 The basin is considered a backarc basin.
 Proven reservoir rocks are Miocene reefal carbonates and shallow marine
sandstones, both of which are gas-bearing.

9. Central Luzon Basin

 The basin is a north-south striking asymmetrical trough with an aerial extend of
16,000 sq km of which 90% lies offshore.
 The predominantly marine clastic-carbonate fill ranges in age from Eocene to
Holocene and attains a thickness of over 12 km.
 The western flank consists mostly of deep marine clastics while the eastern flank
has a well-defined shelf underlain by shallow carbonate and clastic deposits.
 The basin was forearc basin during much of the Tertiary time, but is now situated
as a backarc basin.
 Potential reservoir rocks include Miocene reefal carbonates, turbidites and shelfal
sandstones and Pliocene deltaic and channel sandstones.

10. Iloilo Basin and West Masbate Shelf

 They are two small intercalcated depocenters in Central Philippines with a
combined area of 9,800 sq km of which 60% lies offshore.
 The Iloilo Basin has an estimated areal extent of 3,800 sq km (2,800 km for main
basin and 1000 km for Panay Gulf sub-basin).
 The West Masbate Shelf comprises the eastern part of the southwest-trending
peninsula of Masbate Island and Sibuyan Sea, which covers an area of
approximately 6,000 sq km.
 The Iloilo Basin-West Masbate Shelf area is considered as a forearc basin
modified in part by wrench tectonics.
  Maximum of 5-7 km thick of Upper Oligocene to Holocene sedimentary fill is
estimated in Panay Island for the Iloilo Basin.
 The West Masbate Shelf consists of an undeformed Upper Oligocene and
younger sedimentary wedge generally 4 km thick.
 No significant potential oil and gas source rocks have been identified in the
onshore Iloilo Basin and Panay Gulf sub-basin.

11. Bicol Shelf-Lamon Bay Basin

 It is abroad northeast-dipping platform in southeast Luzon with an areal extent of
34,000 sq km with 95% of the basin lying offshore.
 The sedimentary section is generally not more than 3 km thick.
 It consists predominantly of Oligocene and younger clastics and carbonates
deposited in shallow to deep marine environments.
 The basin is considered a forearc basin.
 Potential reservoir rocks exist in Oligocene to Miocene shallow and deep marine
carbonates and sandstones.

12. West Luzon Platform

 It is a narrow, north trending structural terrace to the west of the Central Basin,
and on the landward (east) side of the west Luzon Trough.
 Covers an area of 12,500 sq km of which 60% lies offshore.
 Contains a 3 to 4 km thick Oligocene to Holocene sedimentary section.
 The sedimentary fill consists predominantly of clastic carbonate sequence
deposited in shallow to deep marine environment.
 No significant potential oil or gas source rocks have yet been identified in
outcrop.

13. Ilocos Basin

 It is a north-south trending trough covering an area of 15,000 sq km located in
northwest Luzon.
 Fifty percent of the basin lies onshore.
 Upper Oligocene to Holocene series represent the shallow to deep marine facies
on an 8 km thick sedimentary section.
 It is a forearc basin.
 The Middle Miocene to lower Upper Miocene middle fan (turbidites) sandstones
and Lower Miocene reefal carbonates are the potential reservoir rocks.