Print this pageAlbertine Graben — What's in Store for the Wider East African Rift System, Western Branch?
The aim of this poster is to discuss the exploration history, characteristics and prospectivity of the East African Rift System (EARS), Western Branch.
The EARS, Western Branch, is part of the larger East African Rift System which developed during Tertiary-Quaternary times. The EARS, Western Branch runs over a distance of about 2,100 km over eight countries, from the Lake Albert (Uganda) in the north to Lake Malawi (Mozambique) in the south.
It comprises seven grabens (from north to south): the Albertine, Kivu, Tanganyika, Rukwa, Ruhuhu, Nyasa and Chilwa.
Although the first exploration activity goes back to the 1930s, the first discovery was made only in 2006 when Hardman Resources found oil in Mputa 1 in the Albertine Graben. Since then, 11 new-field wildcats have been drilled which were all successful.
These positive results open new perspectives for the other parts of the rift where limited exploration activity has taken place so far. Gravity-magnetic and more than 10,000 line-km of 2D seismic have been acquired. Four wells were drilled in 1987 and no discoveries have been made.
In analogy with Albertine Graben it is possible that similar conditions exist for the development of source rocks, reservoirs, seals and traps in the other unexplored areas of the EARS, Western Branch.
AAPG Search and Discover Article #90100©2009 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition 15-18 November 2009, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil