Geological field characteristic of the Kroh Formation in the Upper Perak shales, western Peninsula Malaysia

Abstract Unconventional hydrocarbon resource has become an interesting field of study; specially for its source rocks which can also be turned into excellent reservoirs to generate and accumulation hydrocarbons. Exploration and production from fine-grained rocks, such as shale, contemporaneous with advancement in technology facilitated the use of black shales with reduced operation cost. Twenty five percentage of sedimentary rocks of the Peninsular Malaysia are made up of Paleozoic black shales. This work is focused on understanding the geological and geochemical characteristics of the carbonaceous black shales from the Paleozoic Kroh Formation in the Western Belt of Peninsular Malaysia. Description of lithology and structures of outcrops and total organic carbon (TOC) analyses have been carried out for six representative black shale samples from the Kroh Formation. Detailed lithology, structures such as bedding plane, joint, fault, fold, lamination and iron stain were identified. The TOC values of the shales range from 2.02% to 7.01% and this range of TOC indicates that the studied shales have a very good potential to serve as source of hydrocarbons.