A Review of the Geology of the Rio Del Rey Basin, Offshore Cameroon

Boris B Bate,Edwin Ayuk Ndip,Maduka Bertram Ozumba,Dorcas S Eyinla

doi:10.35248/2157-7463.19.10.389

Abstract

A review of the tectonic evolution, stratigraphic and structural framework, petroleum systems and hydrocarbon potential of the offshore portion of Rio Del Rey (RDR) Basin in Cameroon is presented in this paper. The RDR basin is a passive margin basin present in the Gulf of Guinea and it is located southeast of Niger Delta over an area of about 7,000 km2 offshore. Its stratigraphic components, like those of Niger Delta, comprise of a diachronous succession of prodelta shales (Akata Formation), overlain by delta front sands and shales (Agbada Formation), in turn, overlain by fluvial sands (Benin Formation). The age of this basin ranges from Eocene to Recent and it consists of four structural provinces namely; the growth fault province in the north, the Cretaceous Onshore province in the southeast, the Shale Ridge province in the southwest, and the Delta Toe-thrust in the south-central region. The RDR Basin features three stages of tectonic development: Pre-rift phase (Late Proterozoic to Late Jurassic); Syn-rift phase (Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous) and Post-rift phase (Late Cretaceous to Holocene). It presently stands out as the major contributor of the petroleum in the country.

Highlights

The sedimentary basins in Cameroon have been classified into two namely; coastal and continental basins [1]
The coastal basins are the Douala/Kribi-Campo and the Rio Del Rey Basins. These are passive margin basins formed in the Cenozoic following the opening of the South Atlantic Ocean when the Gondwana supercontinent broke up in the Late Jurassic
The offshore portion of Rio Del Rey (RDR) Basin represents one of the major petroliferous regions of Cameroon [8]. It is bordered by Niger Delta Basin of Nigeria to the west and northwest, and by Rio Muni Basin of Equatorial Guinea to the south

Summary

Introduction

The sedimentary basins in Cameroon have been classified into two namely; coastal and continental basins [1]. The coastal basins are the Douala/Kribi-Campo and the Rio Del Rey Basins. The RDR Basin (Figure 1), is one of the coastal basins in the southwest region of Cameroon and represents the southeastern portion of the Niger Delta in the Gulf of Guinea [3,4,5,6,7].

Results

Conclusion