Daniel M. Jarvie¹, Fred Mbatau², Albert Maende², Daniel Ngenoh², David A. Wavrek³

(1) Humble Geochemical Services, Humble, TX
(2) National Oil Company of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
(3) Petroleum Systems International, Salt Lake City, UT

ABSTRACT: Petroleum Systems in Northwest Kenya

The rift basins of northwestern Kenya contain thick, lacustrine source rocks with high petroleum potential. These organic rich, Type I Miocene source intervals are measured to be about 800 feet in the Lake Turkana area and estimated to be several thousand feet thick elsewhere in northwest Kenya. The source potential index (SPI) measured on immature source rocks from Miocene source rocks in the Loperot #1 well has an average SPI value of 15 t/m2, a world class petroleum source rock.

These Kenyan basins include the Lotikipi, Lokichar, Turkana, and Anza basins in northwest Kenya. Recovered oils from the Sirius #1 and Loperot #1 wells demonstrate active generation, expulsion, and migration of a high quality paraffin-rich oil. Tertiary oils in Kenya could be related either to the Tertiary rifting phase of the Central African Rift System as in Sudan or the Red Sea to Lake Malawi Tertiary rift feature. Correlation of Tertiary and Cretaceous oils from Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda is shown.

Basin modeling, based on available seismic data in northwest Kenya, shows that traps are on migration pathways with lacustrine source rocks that are mature and near peak to maximum oil generation based on compositional kinetic and yields measurements. Evaluation of the Tertiary and Cretaceous rift systems is currently underway to decipher the functional petroleum systems in northwest Kenya. The presence of a thick lacustrine source rock, migration pathways, traps, and seals in these areas provide the potential for Sudan-sized reserves in these basins.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90906©2001 AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado