Namibe Basin: Deepwater Exploration Potential

Mateus Brito, Carlos Figueiredo, and Murthy Inkollu
Sonangol, Luanda, Angola

The Namibe basin straddles the southern coastline of Angola and the northern most part of Namibia and the adjacent offshore areas. It is the last unexplored hydrocarbon prospective sub-basin within the West African Salt Basin Province (WASB). The basin mostly underlie in the deepwater region of South Atlantic.

Tectonic configuration of the basin is related to the asymmetric evolution of two continents Africa and South America in an asymmetrical relationship to one another and to the spreading of the South Atlantic. This relationship is attributed to the development of upper and Lower Plate boundaries and, Namibe basin largely encompass the Upper Plate characteristics. The tectono-stratigraphic history of the basin is comparable to WASB as a whole, but shows subtle variations in its source, reservoir and depositional sequences. In the absence of well data, stratigraphic scheme has been derived from onshore outcrops, seismic profiles and well penetrations in adjacent basins of the region.

Namibe Basin shows a regional west-dipping monoclinal structure, oriented along a north-south strike. The ocean-continental boundary (OCB) is located proximal to the 2500-meter bathymetric contour where there is a significant change of slope in the sea-floor profile. The basin structure is illustrated with profiles drawn across the basin.

Namibe basin offers a wide variety of structural and stratigraphic trapping scenarios. Evidence for the Play types is illustrated by seismic examples from the 2D speculative seismic surveys, which have been collected over a number of years in the basin. The Play types are identified in synrift and post-rift sediment sequences.

The available leases for exploration in the basin will be reviewed.