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AUSTRALASIA
Mud flats
Brief history of the country
Micronesia (the Federated States of Micronesia) in the western Pacific Ocean comprises 607 of the eastern Caroline Islands in 4 states (Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae). The country lies northeast of Papua New Guinea and south of Guam, covering over 2.6mm sq kms of ocean.
The islands were probably settled over 4,000 years ago by migrants from the Philippines. Tribes were loosely ruled from Yap until Pohnpei became the seat of the Saudeleur dynasty in 500 AD which controlled the region until 1500.
The Portuguese first sighted the Carolines in the 16th century and Spain then incorporated them into the Spanish East Indies. Settlements were established in the 19th century with a town founded on Pohnpei in 1887. In 1899, after the Spanish–American War, they were sold to Germany and became part of German New Guinea.
Japan captured the islands in World War I, administering them as part of the South Pacific Mandate until World War 2 when they became part of the USA Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. In 1979 the 4 states merged in association with the USA whilst Palau, the Marshall Islands, and the Northern Marianas chose not to participate.
Independence was then gained in 1986. The isolated islands now depend on farming and fishing, some phosphate mining, and financial assistance from the USA.
Oil and gas summary
The east-west linear group of islands of The Federated States of Micronesia lie at the southern end of the Marianas Trench, on its southeastern side. There are 607 islands extending 2,900 kms east-west across the eastern Caroline Islands Ridge grouped into 4 states. They are, from east to west, Yap State, Chuuk State (named Truk before 1990), Pohnpei State (named Ponape before 1985) and Kosrae State.
Volcanoes on the west were created at the western edge of the Pacific plate above the subduction zone where it is fused with the smaller Caroline tectonic plate. Both plates are floored by oceanic crust but the older, denser rocks of the Pacific plate have been subducting beneath the younger northeastern edge of the Caroline plate and also the eastern edge of the Philippine Sea plate since the Eocene. Subduction caused melting of the crust and upper mantle due to release of water trapped in minerals within the dipping plate.
However, most of the islands making up the east-west trending Caroline ridge were developed due to hotspot activity above a fixed mantle plume that formed both sub-aerial and submerged volcanoes. These islands become progressively older to the west as the Pacific plate corresponding to the westwards movement of the Pacific plate. The eastern islands are still active. They are either volcanic, with fringing reefs at or just below sea level, or are coral atolls built up on submerged volcanoes surrounded by oceanic crust.
Globalshift believes there is no chance of source rocks or traps in such a geological setting and Micronesia has no oil or gas potential. No exploration wells have ever been drilled in the country or in the surrounding waters.
MICRONESIA
Map and National Flag
Australasia
Capital
Population
Land area (sq kms)
Oil prod (000s b/d)
Gas prod (bcm/yr)
Oil cons (000s b/d)
Gas cons (bcm/yr)
Palikir
0.11 mm
236,800
None
None
1.21
None
Government
Micronesia is a federal representative democratic republic. The President s head of state and is elected by 4 senators (one for each island state) from a 14-member Congress.
Executive power is exercised by the president and his cabinet, while legislative power is vested in both the president and the Congress. The Federation is in free association with the United States.
There is no department of government in Micronesia specifically responsible for oil and gas resources.