Petroleum Geology: From Mature Basins to New Frontiers – Proceedings of the 7th Petroleum Geology Conference

‘The Proceedings of the 7th Petroleum Geology Conference is the seventh in a series that has become a tradition known as the ‘Barbican’ conferences. They started life over 35 years ago, in 1974, with a focus solely on North-West Europe, and have a reputation, both from the conferences and the accompanying Proceedings volumes, of being at the forefront of petroleum geoscience; the standard reference for successive generations of petroleum geoscientists.
North-West Europe has matured as a petroleum province and, at the same time, the conference series has matured to be a truly global event.
These Proceedings embrace many of the world’s petroleum provinces in a two-volume set. There are sections on Europe, which still provides the heart of the Proceedings; Russia, the former Soviet Union and Circum-Artic; North Africa and the Middle East; Passive Margins; and Unconventional Hydrocarbon Resources.
In addition, the three Geocontroversies debates, highly acclaimed at the conference, are included, as is a summary of the Core Workshop. A DVD complements the books and, in addition to providing electronic versions of all the papers also includes selected posters and video clips from the Virtual Field Trip session; the latter being a major success at the conference. The Proceedings volumes of this seventh conference are therefore a ‘must’ for every petroleum geoscientist’s bookshelf.
Biostratigraphy, chemostratigraphy and thermal maturity of the A1-NC198 exploration well in the Kufra Basin, SE Libya Available to Purchase
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Published:January 01, 2010
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CiteCitation
S. Lüning, N. Miles, T. Pearce, E. Brooker, P. Barnard, G. Johannson, S. Schäfer, 2010. "Biostratigraphy, chemostratigraphy and thermal maturity of the A1-NC198 exploration well in the Kufra Basin, SE Libya", Petroleum Geology: From Mature Basins to New Frontiers – Proceedings of the 7th Petroleum Geology Conference, B. A. Vining, S. C. Pickering
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Abstract
The A1-NC198 exploration well was drilled in the Kufra Basin in 2007 by RWE Dea and represented only the third well in a large, 400 000 km2 frontier basin. Despite being dry and lacking any hydrocarbon shows, the well provides important data to improve the understanding of the regional petroleum play. In the 1980s and 1990s the basin's prospectivity was questioned largely because of supposed (1) lack of structuration, (2) lack of source rock and (3) thermal immaturity at Silurian level. Following a series of academic and industry studies over the past 10 years, these assertions can no longer be upheld. The analysis of available seismic has proven the existence of Murzuq-style fault blocks as well as late Ordovician glacial erosional relict buried hills, potentially forming suitable structural and stratigraphic traps. The presence of hot shale in the Kufra Basin is evidenced by typical seismic onlaps of strong amplitude reflectors at base Silurian levels, shallow drilling results and outcrop spectral gamma-ray evidence. A spore colouration study of A1-NC198 cuttings indicates a deep oil window maturity for the Silurian, implying potential oil generation in the basin if suitable Silurian source rocks exist. The stratigraphy of the A1-NC198 succession was analysed by means of biostratigraphy and chemostratigraphy, which form the basis for improved well correlations within the basin.