ABSTRACT: Petroleum systems of Indian sedimentary basins

Petroleum system investigations in the various Indian sedimentary basins has led to identification of about 70 systems. These systems are annotated as known hypothetical and speculative based on the data base and knowledge acquired through exploratory efforts.

The petroleum systems housed in the Tertiary sediments in the different basins clearly bring out the dominant role played by both the anticlockwise movement of the Indian plate and the attendant collision complexes in the North and northeast. The older systems are transluscent not only due to the earlier cycle of sedimentation that constituted their components, but also due to the major igneous activity that took place before the Tertiary sedimentation. Still older systems have sporadic to meagre data to define the systems precisely.

The petroleum system protocols that define the attributes of these systems, have enabled identification of key elements that require focus in known and hypothetical systems to optimise their hydrocarbon yield through extensions or new plays and trap recognition. Likewise the required exploration inputs are identifiable for evaluation of the hydrocarbon potential-evaluation of the speculative systems. In the latter case, review of data beyond the Indian basins has been resorted to, so that a geological model in tune with the speculative petroleum system can guide exploratory efforts.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90913©2000 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Bali, Indonesia