Online Journal for E&P Geoscientists

Babikir, Ibrahim A.¹; Wadidi, El Fatih ^*2
(1) General Service, Sudapet Co. Ltd, Khartoum, Sudan. (2) GIS and Data Management, Sudapet Co. Ltd, Khartoum, Sudan.

This paper discusses the main results of the GIS-based project of Sudapet Company Ltd, Sudan; named Sudan Structural GIS and SEEBASE “Structurally Enhanced View of Economic Basement”. Started in early2009, Sudapet collaborated with FrOG Tech and Tokomak in compiling and providing a regional structural framework for oil exploration throughout Sudan and highlights and analyses the basement and basins evolution of the region. The study was primarily based on non-seismic data ‘Gravity and Magnetic’ with some detailed seismic windows made available for local areas within the main Sudan basins and sub-basins. The overall objective of the study was to re-evaluate the potential for conventional petroleum resources of the basins through the delineation of the basins spatial distribution, basins geometry as well as basins evolution and their structural and intra-basinal features at a suitable resolution based on the available data input. A very efficient workflow for the study was created. State-of-the-art related geospatial data were carefully compiled leading to the construction of a huge GIS database and its associated metadata. The ‘bottom-up’ integrated interpretation and calibration of the input dataset enabled the construction of the SEEBASE Sudan basins architecture and enhances the understanding of their evolution through geological times. Nineteen basement terranes have been identified and mapped based on field data and the available published work and different geological maps from different reliable sources. A total of 25 major tectonic events have been recognized and grouped into basement forming events (mainly Pan-African in age) and basin forming events (mainly Phanerozoic). Each event was characterized by their structural elements with special emphasis on their reactivation kinematics enabling the recognition of possible traps forming structures, which in turn can be used to delineate new potential targets.