Abstract:

The Senegal Basin in West Africa is one of the most active frontier basin for oil and gas exploration in the world. Based on the newest geological database, with an approach of integrated geological investigation and petroleum system analysis, this paper focuses on the oil and gas distribution patterns and the main controlling factors in the Senegal Basin, and discusses the resource exploration potential in the future. Three petroleum systems are recognized, including the Silurian petroleum system, the pre-salt Triassic petroleum system and the Cretaceous petroleum system, and the last is of great significance. Regionally, the discovered oil and gas reserves are largely confined to the Mauritania sub-basin and Northern sub-basin. Stratigraphically, they are mostly reservoired in the Cenomanian, Albian and Miocene. The petroleum reserves are largely reservoired in burial depths: 1,500 to 2,000 m and 2,000 to 2,500 m. The controlling factors of the hydrocarbons in the Senegal Basin include effective source-reservoir-seal assemblage, high-quality reservoir and trap as well as salt tectonic movement in salt sub-basin. The results of petroleum resources assessment show that undiscovered oil, gas and condensate resources amount to 1,508.3×10⁶ bbl, 36.3 Tcf and 327.0×10⁶ bbl respectively in the Senegal Basin. This study proposes two favorable exploration plays: Cenomanian play and Albian play of Cretaceous petroleum system.

Key words: Senegal Basin, oil and gas distribution, controlling factor, play, resource evaluation