Geology of the Douala Basin, Offshore Cameroon, West Africa

PAUKEN, ROBERT J., JOHN M. THOMPSON, and JOHN R. SCHUMANN, Mobil New Exploration Ventures Company, Dallas, TX, and JAMES C. COOKE, Mobil Exploration and Production Services Inc., Dallas, TX

The Douala basin is predominantly an offshore basin extending from the Cameroon volcanic line in the north to the Corisco arch in the south near the Equatorial Guinea-Gabon border. The basin lies wholly within the territorial borders of Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

The Douala basin is one of a series of divergent margin basins occurring along the southwest African coastline resulting from the rifting of Africa from South America. Continental rifting in the Doula basin was initiated at least by Aptian-Albian time and possibly as early as Jurassic. The rift stage persisted until Albian time when the onset of drifting occurred.

The sedimentary section in the basin has a maximum thickness of 8-10 km, based on exploration drilling and gravity and magnetics modeling. The synrift section consists of Aptian-Albian sands and shales, deposited primarily as submarine fans, fan-deltas, and turbidite deposits. These are overlain by salt, thought to be equivalent to the Ezagna salt of Aptian age in the Gabon basin to the south. The synrift section is separated from the overlying postrift shale sequence of Late Cretaceous and Tertiary age by a major late Albian unconformity.

The Douala basin has been explored for hydrocarbons intermittently over the last 25 years. Results show a distinct tendency for gas-proneness. The largest field recorded to date is the Sanaga Sud gas field, discovered in 1979, offshore, near the coastal city of Kribi.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91004 © 1991 AAPG Annual Convention Dallas, Texas, April 7-10, 1991 (2009)