--> Abstract: Impact of Albian Tectono-Stratigraphy on Upper Cretaceous Plays in the Deep Ivorian Basin, Gulf of Guinea, West Africa, by Arndt Peterhänsel, Andrey Akhmetzhanov, Zsolt Schleder, Gennady Toropov, Christopher H. Bradley, Michael Neese, Ron Wallace, Gbomea Marcelle Gauly, and Gérard N'Dri; #90124 (2011)

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AAPG ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION
Making the Next Giant Leap in Geosciences
April 10-13, 2011, Houston, Texas, USA

Impact of Albian Tectono-Stratigraphy on Upper Cretaceous Plays in the Deep Ivorian Basin, Gulf of Guinea, West Africa

Arndt Peterhänsel1; Andrey Akhmetzhanov1; Zsolt Schleder1; Gennady Toropov1; Christopher H. Bradley2; Michael Neese2; Ron Wallace2; Gbomea Marcelle Gauly3; Gérard N'Dri3

(1) Lukoil Overseas UK, London, United Kingdom.

(2) Vanco Exploration Company, Houston, TX.

(3) PETROCI, Abidjan, Cte d'Ivoire.

Understanding the tectono-stratigraphic evolution of Cretaceous rift basins of offshore Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana is important for assessing their hydrocarbon prospectivity. Most known oil and gas fields in this area are located in shallow water. Further offshore recent exploration focuses on Albian structural traps and post Albian (Turonian and Senonian) turbiditic plays with some major discoveries (i.e. Baobab, Tweneboa, Jubilee and Dzata). Upper Cretaceous turbiditic flows were influenced by and pinch out against Albian structural highs providing a stratigraphic component for hydrocarbon trapping. This implies that a detailed model of the Albian structural evolution is of importance and improves the understanding of the internal Albian structural configuration and spatial distribution of the ensuing turbiditic units. This contribution presents a 3D structural and sedimentary model that utilises data from regional 2D lines and 3D seismic from the Deep Ivorian Basin.

In the Gulf of Guinea rifting initiated in Barremian time and continued into the late Cretaceous with the continental break-up being marked by the Albian unconformity. NE-SW striking dextral transform fault motion resulted in the Deep Ivorian strike-slip pull-apart basin. Seismic data from this area and regional lines show that the intra Albian is characterised by NW-SE striking listric normal faults with displacement of 4 km or more. The displacement on the normal faults is accommodated by NE-SW striking oblique transfer faults. The hanging wall consists of en-echelon tilted blocks and roll-over monoclines and may develop hanging wall anticlines and associated crestal collapse grabens where the listric fault has a ramp-flat-ramp trajectory. Using the seismic data to perform geometrical balancing and forward modelling it can be demonstrated that multiple generations of normal faults exist in the study area and that the postulated set of normal faulting progressively steepens the strata and superimposes fault blocks with markedly different tilt. The Albian anticlines and rotated blocks provide viable structural targets and also act as obstacles for turbidity flows. The Albian oblique transfer zones had significant influence in determining late Cretaceous sedimentation pathways.