Re-Look from the Prospectivity of Uttaranchal Foothills in Oil's Kashipur Pel Area

Akshaya Kumar¹, Pramitabha Barua², and Bedanta P. Sharma^3
1Geophysics, Oil India Limited, Duliajan, India
²Geology & Reservoir, Oil India Limited, Duliajan, India
³Ganga Valley Project, Oil India Limited, Noida, India

The hydrocarbon exploration in Himalayan foothills, in particular and Ganga basin, in general has so far proved futile through oil/gas shows have been reported from many parts of the basin. Limited exploratory drilling, so far, has not encountered the much expected Eocene source rock i.e. Subathu Formation, which are reportedly exposed in several thrust sheets in the area. Oil India Limited (OIL), for the first time conducted seismic surveys (dynamite) in geologically complex and extremely rugged terrain of the Uttaranchal foothills. Processing and interpretation of the date, particularly application of advanced techniques elucidated the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the study area from the exploration point of view. Identification of Triangular zones (triangle zones having thrust-stack prospects with apparent closure as well as new plays, etc.) which appear analogues to many other oil/gas bearing triangular zones around the world, have renewed interest in the area. Triangular zones in the study area are made-up of stacked south-travelling thrust sheets and their north-vergent back thrust, build on a detachment at top of Vindhyan where the target is Dharamsala (reservoir) and Subathu (source and reservoir).

The area merits a sustained exploration programme with techno-economic consideration. The present paper highlights focus on the exploration in triangular zones for deep as well as shallow gas/oil reservoirs, which is expected to result in the discovery of hydrocarbon in Uttaranchal foothills.

Presentation GEO India Expo XXI, Noida, New Delhi, India 2008©AAPG Search and Discovery