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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 1999; v. 153; p. 101-131;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1999.153.01.08
© 1999 Geological Society of London

Oil and Gas Habitats

The distribution of petroleum reserves in basins of the South Atlantic margins

M. P. Coward1, E. G. Purdy2, A. C. Ries3 & D. G. Smith4

1 Ries-Coward Associates Ltd, Caversham, Reading RG4 5ES & T. H. Huxley School of the Environment, Earth Sciences and Engineering, Imperial College, London SW7 2BP, UK
2 Petro Quest International Inc., Weybridge, Surrey KT13 8YA, UK
3 Ries-Coward Associates Ltd, Caversham, Reading RG4 5ES, UK
4 Petroconsultants (UK) Ltd, London SW15 6TQ, UK

The opening of the South Atlantic created a series of passive margin basins on both sides of the new ocean. This paper reviews the distribution of petroleum reserves in these basins in terms of their tectono-stratigraphic position within the framework of the rift-drift succession. Seven megasequences are recognized. Three are in the drift succession, three are in the rift succession and one comprises the pre-rift succession. Ninety-three per cent of the presently discovered recoverable hydrocarbons are reservoired in the drift succession, 6% are located in the rift succession and 1% is associated with the pre-rift units. The basins group geographically into seven sectors within which both margins share some common features. Sixty-five per cent of the reserves are contained in Sector V which is dominated by the Niger Delta, and 28% are positioned in Sector III, which includes the Campos and Lower Congo Basins. The new deepwater giant discoveries of Angola, which are located in Sector III, are the Africa counterparts of the earlier deepwater Campos Basin discoveries. In general sectors III–V, located between the Walvis Ridge and the Equatorial Atlantic transforms, are most favourable as they are characterized by the most prolific source rocks at all horizons.





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