PETROLEUM GEOCHEMISTRY OF OILS FROM MYANMAR – A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT

Abstract

Myanmar has a long history of petroleum production, but little information has so far been published pertaining to the detailed composition of the country's oils. The present paper reports the results of the analysis of a total of 28 Cenozoic oil samples collected from producing fields/wells or natural seepages in the onshore Salin and Chindwin Basins of the Central Myanmar Depression and from Ramree Island in the Rakhine Coastal Belt. In addition, a set of 68 mudstones and coals from four Oligocene – Paleocene formations were collected along the western margin of the Central Myanmar Depression and were analysed for petroleum generation potential. Data on five oil samples from the Assam Province of India, situated to the north of the Central Myanmar Depression, were also included in the study for comparison purposes.