Hydrocarbon Provinces and Productive Trends in Libya and Adjacent Areas

Amin A. Missallati

According to the age of major reservoirs, hydrocarbon occurrences in Libya and adjacent areas can be grouped into six major systems which, according to their geographic locations, can be classified into two major hydrocarbon provinces: (1) Sirte-Pelagian basins province, with major reservoirs ranging from middle-late Mesozoic to early Tertiary, and (2) Murzog-Ghadames basins province, with major reservoirs ranging from early Paleozoic to early Mesozoic.

In the Sirte-Pelagian basins province, hydrocarbons have been trapped in structural highs or in stratigraphic wedge-out against structural highs and in carbonate buildups. Here, hydrocarbon generation is characterized by the combined effect of abundant structural relief and reservoir development in the same hydrocarbon systems of the same age, providing an excellent example of hydrocarbon traps in sedimentary basins that have undergone extensive tensional fracturing in a shallow marine environment. In the Murzog-Ghadames basins province, hydrocarbons have been trapped mainly in structural highs controlled by paleostructural trends as basement arches which acted as focal points for oil migration and accumulation.

Oil fields' distribution in both provinces appears to be confined to regional trends which reflect the close relationship between epeirogenies, sedimentation, oil migration and accumulation. In the Sirte-Pelagian basins province, the distribution of the oil fields closely follows the northwest-southeast tectonic trend of the Sirte basin; while in the Murzog-Ghadames basins province, it is mainly controlled by major paleostructural highs or basement arches representing intersections between Caledonian and Hercynian regional trends.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91032©1988 Mediterranean Basins Conference and Exhibition, Nice, France, 25-28 September 1988.