General Duke Posted June 24, 2009 New updates from AfricaOil website. World-Class East Africa Oil Exploration Play Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted June 24, 2009 Somalia hydrocarbon basins contiguous with Yemeni basins prior to rifting in the Gulf of Aden. Yemeni basins contain 9 billion BOE reserves with current production of over 400,000 bpd. Most production from Cretaceous Qishen and Jurassic Alif sandstone reservoirs sourced by Madbi Shales. In Yemen between 1994 and 2006 there was an average discovery size of 96 million BOE recoverable reserves with a discovery success rate of 23%. Once contiguous Somalia basins have identical geology and potential . Concessions located in Puntland, a more stable and semi-autonomous region of Somalia. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted June 24, 2009 In Yemen between 1994 and 2006 there was an average discovery size of 96 million BOE recoverable reserves with a discovery success rate of 23%. Once contiguous Somalia basins have identical geology and potential . Concessions located in Puntland, a more stable and semi-autonomous region of Somalia. Good quality existing seismic on Nogal Block. Newly acquired seismic on Dharoor Block. Numerous large prospects identified -- drill ready. Possible oil discovery (1958) in Dharoor Block. Oil seeps and shows. Somalia is a virtually unexplored territory. Only 60 wildcats in 580,000 km² of sedimentary basins.11 oil and gas discoveries giving a wildcat success rate that is comparable with the best oil provinces in the world. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted June 24, 2009 Only 3 wells drilled in Nogal and Dharoor basins - all three encountered oil in Cretaceous sandstones. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted June 24, 2009 The Nogal Valley and Dharoor Valley Blocks situated in northern Somalia cover the Nogal Basin and the Darin Basin, respectively. Combined, the two blocks cover a very large area, with the Nogal Valley Block extending over approximately 12,849,479 acres, which encompasses the Nogal Basin. The Dharoor Valley Block extends over an area of 7,166,056 acres, encompassing the entire Darin Basin. These areas are very large and, with only 5 wells drilled, the area remains one of the least explored areas in North Africa. The Nogal Basin covered by the Nogal Valley Block has been identified as having reservoir, source rock and trap potential. International oil and gas companies conducted exploration in the late 1980's in the region. During this exploration phase, a grid of 2D seismic was shot perpendicular to the axis of the rift system in the Nogal Basin. Based on interpreted maps this data shows a number of large, closed, fault-controlled structures. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gheelle.T Posted June 24, 2009 Waa inaa meesha is geeyo walle.. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted June 24, 2009 bounding faults. Several wells drilled on the identified structures encountered numerous oil shows, however, the wells Nogal-1 and Kalis-1 did not reach the main exploration target. The most clearly defined basins in Puntland are the Nogal and Darin basins. These large depressions are visible on satellite imagery. The two basins are believed to be part of a failed rift system and are analogous to the prolific Yemen rift system found across the Gulf of Aden. It is thought that the oil reserves found in the Cretaceous and Jurassic sedimentary sequence in Yemen could also be present in similar formations in the northern portion of Somalia, since these two areas were joined approximately 18 million years ago, before the movement of the Indian plate away from the African plate. The basin fill is extremely thick, with more than 10,000 feet of sediments in some areas. The main target reservoir is the Jurassic-aged sandstones belonging to the Gabredarre Formation. These reservoir sandstones overlie the organic rich shales and marls of the Uarandab Formation, which is thought to be the source rock for the oil seeps observed along the boundary faults. The secondary reservoirs include the deep marine sandstones and shallow marine carbonates belonging to the Upper Cretaceous Gumburo Formation. The marine sandstones of the Jesomma Formation, also Upper Cretaceous in age, are also potential secondary targets. The Jesomma and Gumburo have isopach thicknesses of approximately 1,350 and 2,450 feet, respectively. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted June 24, 2009 The limited information indicates that reservoir quality rocks are present within the Nogal Basin. Of the five wells drilled in the Nogal Basin, images of partial well logs are available for two wells (Nogal 1 and Kalis-1). The drilling reports for these two wells indicated that the Jurassic sandstone targets were not reached but that oil shows were found in some of the shallower sandstones. Nogal --1 was drilled to a depth of 10,736 feet in 1990. Kalis-1 was drilled to at least a depth of 5100 feet in 1990 according to log images. The original plan for Kalis-1 was to drill it to a depth of 14,850 feet. Surface seeps of oil, as well as oil shows reported in several exploration wells drilled by previous operators in the area, indicate that the source rocks have generated hydrocarbons and that they have migrated through the system. There is not enough data yet to determine if trap formation predates hydrocarbon migration, however. The indications from the limited number of wells drilled in the basin are that the basin appears to be oil-prone. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted June 24, 2009 Seismic structure maps prepared in the late 1980's by a major oil company and obtained from the Somali Government by the Company show that a number of fault-bounded structures with three way dip closures do exist within the basin. A seismic base map for the basin indicates that approximately 2500 line miles of 2D seismic has been shot representing some 76 seismic lines. A review of three seismic lines show good structuring in the subsurface with evidence of tilted fault blocks and rollover closure. The structures identified by the major oil company using the seismic data, appear to be quite large with some in excess of 4,000 acres and as large as 14,000 acres. These, combined with the extremely thick section of basin fill, provide multiple horizons in which hydrocarbons can be trapped. At the Dharoor Block, the Company acquired 782 kilometers of good quality data comprising 15 grid lines. The Company has combined 555 kilometers of previously acquired data from this Block into its seismic database. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted June 24, 2009 Cretaceous basins rifted apart beginning 16-18 million years ago Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
General Duke Posted June 24, 2009 Exploration Drilling In Somalia, AOC has identified numerous potentially large prospects in both the Dharoor and Nogal Blocks on seismic and will select future drilling locations in late Q4 2009. In addition, the Company will start its efforts to procure and mobilize a drilling rig. In the Kenyan non-operated Block 9, the operator has plans to spud a well during Q4 2009. Additional drilling activity in Kenya Block 10A and the Ethiopian Blocks will await completion of seismic acquisition, processing, and interpretation. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nuune Posted June 24, 2009 Very interesting indeed, update us more on when the real work will begin after the exploration, or how long will the finding take place, what time frame, since there are advanced technological developements to carry out fierce research then I hope it won't take long for a production to follow. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
