Using seismic and well data to constrain hydrocarbon trap potential of offshore Lamu Basin, Kenya

Abstract

Structural analysis of seismic data, combined with well data, provides information for hydrocarbon exploration in a prospective basin. These techniques have been employed in the offshore Lamu Basin to characterize structural and stratigraphic setting of carbonate reefs and assess structural deformation and its effect on trapping mechanisms in the offshore basin. Structural interpretation was based on seismic and well data. A combination of microfossil, nannofossil and palynomorph data provided broad age-control for the stratigraphic interpretations. Seismic amplitude brightening attribute was used for tracing structural continuity. Faulted anticlinal traps were formed in the Upper Cretaceous and Tertiary periods. There are inversion features with recent extensional faulting. Favourable structural traps are in the near coastal region. The carbonate reefs in the offshore basin are interpreted from the Early Paleocene to Miocene periods. These reefs formed in the near coastal region, are likely to be quality traps/reservoirs for hydrocarbon accumulation. Five main structures are identified from the depth seismic maps for the Early Paleocene, Late Paleocene and Early Miocene. The reef front may have subsided early, the overlying shales offering the sealing mechanisms. The Davie-Walu transformation was likely to affect the trapping mechanism in the central and southern regions of offshore Lamu Basin. The study provides better understanding of the carbonate reefs’ hydrocarbon potential and trapping mechanisms in the offshore basin.