--> ABSTRACT: Understanding the Potential of the Unconventional Karoo Basin Play, S. Africa: Progress and Problems, by Bada, Gábor; Law, Ben; Hughes, Daniel; Wallis, Roderick J.; #90135 (2011)
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Understanding the Potential of the Unconventional Karoo Basin Play, S. Previous HitAfricaNext Hit: Progress and Problems

Bada, Gábor 1; Law, Ben 2; Hughes, Daniel 2; Wallis, Roderick J.2
(1)TXM Oil and Gas Ltd., Budapest, Hungary. (2) Falcon Oil and Gas Ltd., Denver, CO.

The Karoo basin, where Falcon/TXM is well positioned in its deepest, southern part off the areas with extensive doleritic volcanics, hosts South Previous HitAfricaNext Hit’s main coal deposits that supply most of the country’s energy supply. As South Previous HitAfricaNext Hit is seeking to diversify its energy portfolio from coal to natural gas, unconventional hydrocarbons are a potential game changer in South Previous HitAfrica'sTop energy landscape.

The Karoo basin is an underexplored area where initial exploration confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons at several stratigraphic levels. It is a proven effective petroleum system also through the existence of pyrobitumen filled fractures and outcrops ("pseudocoal"). Main source and reservoir rocks are within the Permian Ecca Supergroup. Black shales (e.g., Prince Albert, Whitehill Fms.) and overlying turbiditic and deltaic sands (e.g., Laingsburg, Fort Brown Fms.) are the main elements in the Karoo hydrocarbon system representing an unconventional fractured shale gas and tight sand play, respectively. Source rocks are originally liquid-prone with type I/II kerogen and with TOC values up to 15%. Of key importance in the play assessment appears to be the high level of thermal maturity (up to 5.0 Ro %) due to deep burial (5-7 km), and subsequent uplift and erosion in major parts of the Karoo basin. Associated uncertainties, such as the gas retention potential of shales and reservoir integrity of tight sands, represent fundamental challenges. A systematic exploration program is now focusing on these topics to unlock the potential of the Karoo basin resources.

This contribution reviews i) the progress made in the understanding of the geology and hydrocarbon system of the Karoo basin, ii) the identified critical issues and iii) the efforts made to characterize and validate the real value of this unconventional play.

 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90135©2011 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Milan, Italy, 23-26 October 2011.