Petroleum Possibilities of Central and South Afghanistan: ABSTRACT

Abstract

Afghanistan is situated within a broad mobile belt extending mainly east-west between the old shield of Fennosarmatia in the north and Gondwanaland in the south. Four major geotectonic units separated by deep-seated fault systems can be recognized. These units are: (1) North Afghan-Tadjikian unit, (2) East Iran-Central Afghan unit, (3) East Afghan-West Pakistan unit, and (4) marginal region of the Indian shield. In central and south Afghanistan the following blocks can be distinguished: East Iran-Central Afghan unit with the Farah block, Helmand block, and Seistan block; East Afghan-West Pakistan unit with Nooristan block; and marginal region of the Indian shield with Katawaz block. None or only poor prospects exist for the discovery of economically exploitable occurrences of petroleum in the Farah, Helmand, Seistan, and Nooristan blocks. Petroleum possibilities are assumed to exist in the Katawaz block of southeastern Afghanistan. The Katawaz block is the only one of southern Afghanistan in which a maximum of 9,000 m of Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Paleogene sediments have been deposited on the basement. The facies are predominantly marine. Potential reservoir rocks are probably represented by clastic strata deposited at the Cretaceous-Tertiary transition and by sandstones intercalated in the Paleogene sequence. Good to excellent trapping conditions could exist in regularly folded Oligocene anticlines as much as 50 km long. Depositional wedges within the subsurface Mesozoic and Paleogene formations could be present. Seismic reconnaissance surveys would provide more End_Page 363------------------------------ precise data pertinent to the existence of favorable structures. End_of_Article - Last_Page 364------------