The Naga-Paktai (NE India) and Sulaiman (Pakistan) Ranges: A Polyphased History and Petroleum System Modeling

Ellouz Zimmermann, Nadine ¹; Vishvanath, Sandeep ¹; Jaswal, Tariq ¹; Letouzey, Jean ¹; Sassi, William ¹
(1) Geology, IFPenergies nouvelles, Rueil malmaison cedex, France.

Indian plate was bordered laterally by two long and segmented margins. These pre-collisional Tethyan Margins are strongly along-strike compartimentalized, as a result from Karoo and Thetyan riftings episodes. This polyphased extensive history resulted in the Indian margins’s segmentation expressed by mega-horsts (Shillong and Jacobabad highs, for example, locally inverted) and deep basins (deformed at present) which impacted the source-rock and reservoir distribution. The pre-collision architecture and paleogeography have been restored in this study. We, then, applied forward modeling, using Thrustpack software, in order to constrain the deformation and the petroleum system evolution along five regional cross-sections through time.This exercise have been applied on the two examples of Naga-Paktai (Assam-Arakan) and Sulaiman (Pakistan) Ranges.

The results of these modeling strongly outline the importance of the following parameters: (1)pre-existing discontinuities - faults and sedimentary facies changes from passive margin stage- on the deformation and source-Rock distribution; and (2) the competition between deformation and sedimentary rates on the petroleum potential of these prolific transform margins during the oblique subduction and collision.

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