Namibe Basin Research Articles

Magmatically driven hydrocarbon generation and fluid flow in the Namibe Basin of Angola

Abstract Magmatic activity can severely alter the thermal structure of a sedimentary basin, with variable effects on the petroleum system. The Namibe Basin of Angola (Cretaceous South Atlantic rift) contains well-exposed magmatic and petroleum system elements and allows integrated assessment of how magmatic activity can modify the petroleum system. The basin was affected by syn-rift and post-rift magmatic events, and bitumen is observed within both the Pre- and Post-Salt stratigraphical sections. In the Pre-Salt, fluorescent bitumen has a lacustrine signature and is associated with calcite and quartz cements. Onshore Pre-Salt units are thermally immature, and therefore the source rock that generated the Pre-Salt bitumen is likely located offshore. Hydrocarbons migrated or re-migrated via magmatically driven fluids, reaching the present-day onshore. Closer to magmatic units, non-fluorescent pyrobitumen was instead observed, evidencing hydrocarbon cracking processes following emplacement. In the Post-Salt, bitumen is in situ and shows marine-like signatures compatible with an immediate Post-Salt source rock depositional environment. In the immediate Post-Salt, units with very high total organic carbon values (TOC; up to 13.8%) and excellent source rock properties (hydrogen index >600 mgHC g −1 TOC) have reached thermal maturation. Within the Namibe Basin these Post-Salt source units lie in proximity to major Turonian–Coniacian–Santonian volcanic centres and associated shallow intrusions, which are likely to have caused thermally forced maturation processes and generation of the Post-Salt hydrocarbons. This paper demonstrates the importance of an integrated field, petrographic and geochemical approach in unravelling the influence of magmatic activity on basin thermal structure and petroleum systems.

Top Year for High-Impact Global Exploration in the Cards

This year is being viewed as a bounce-back period for high-impact oil and gas drilling after a lackluster 2023, with Africa and Latin America pegged to lead the way. Researchers at Rystad Energy have identified 36 potential high-impact wells to be drilled or spud in 2024, the highest annual total since it started tracking the market in 2015. This year’s slate would mark a sizable jump from the 27 high-impact wells drilled in 2023. Of the 36 potentially significant wells, 13 are in Africa and 10 in Latin America, accounting for almost 64% of the global total. Explorers will drill six of these in Asia, two each in the Middle East, Europe, and North America, and one in Oceania with TotalEnergies’ planned exploration in Papua New Guinea. Rystad found only eight of the 27 high-impact wells drilled in 2023 resulted in commercially movable volumes, a success rate of less than 30%, well below the annual average of 42%. These wells discovered volumes of 1 billion BOE, a sharp decline from the 3.5 billion BOE found in 2022, and they accounted for 20% of the 5 billion BOE discovered by all exploration activities globally last year. In addition, 2023 was an expensive year, with drilling costs rising due to a significantly tighter rig market than in prior years, worsening the blow of a low success rate. Rystad Energy classifies high-impact wells through a combination of factors including the size of the prospect, whether they would unlock new hydrocarbon resources in frontier areas or emerging basins, and their significance to an operator’s strategy. Of the high-impact wells planned this year, 14 will be drilled in frontier and emerging basins, with three opening new plays entirely. Eight planned high-impact wells target prospective offshore resources of more than 430 million BOE and considerable prospective onshore resources of more than 230 million BOE, according to the research firm. The remaining 11 wells are strategically relevant for their respective operators, meaning exploration success would help them gain traction in the region or inform future operational decisions. If all planned wells proceed as scheduled, 2024 would see the highest number of high-impact wells drilled in at least 10 years. Oil majors like BP, Chevron, Eni, ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies will dominate high-impact well drilling. About 16 (44%) of the total wells planned will be drilled by these companies, with TotalEnergies planning five, Shell three, and Chevron, Eni, and ExxonMobil targeting two each. Most drilling will be undertaken in the Atlantic margin and Asian waters. National oil companies and internationally focused NOCs will account for eight (22%) of this year’s planned wells, with upstream operators responsible for 17% and smaller operators for the remainder, according to Rystad. Around 70% of African wells will be drilled in frontier and emerging basins or will open new plays. Important frontier wells include in the Red Sea offshore Egypt, in the Angoche Basin offshore Mozambique, and in the Namibe Basin offshore Angola.

Paleoenvironmental and diagenetic evolution of the Aptian Pre-Salt succession in Namibe Basin (Onshore Angola)

The Aptian Pre-Salt sedimentary succession cropping out in Cangulo palaeovalley onshore Namibe Basin (Angola) was studied by a combination of field and analytical techniques to constrain the sedimentary and diagenetic evolution of the uppermost sag sequence of the South Atlantic passive margin. Field observations allows definition of four transgressive-regressive cycles characterised by fluvial to tidal-influenced mixed clastic-carbonate and carbonate-dominated deposits, that locally show evidence of evaporite dissolution; highlighting that evaporite deposition started earlier than deposition of the regional South Atlantic Loeme-Bambata evaporite formations. Two separate pre-salt carbonate units have been differentiated within the Cangulo Fm; i) a lower transitional to marginal marine, and ii) a younger upper non-marine freshwater travertine system, that is documented for the first time in the west African margin. Transgressive-regressive cycles control the early diagenesis of the tidal carbonates that include dolomitization due to mixing fluids during transgressions, and karstification due to evaporite dissolution by meteoric water circulation during regressive events. Clastic supply appears to have been completely shut down during carbonate deposition, suggesting major climatic change associated with carbonate deposition. During the lowstand between the two carbonate units, fluid flow through Cangulo palaeovalley was re-established resulting in extensive karstification and formation of a large-scale erosional unconformity that is interpreted to be time equivalent to an intra Chela-Cuvo Fm. event. The top of the studied succession corresponds to the transgressive deposits of the Bambata evaporites that are not preserved in the Cangulo palaeovalley due to its erosion but are regionally developed. The results of this study can be directly linked to along strike age equivalent Pre-Salt successions cropping out in the Namibe, Benguela and Kwanza basins, and directly offshore Angola and Brazil using well and seismic data. These new data shed important new light and constraints on the depositional and diagenetic evolution of the complex Pre-Salt reservoir systems of the South Atlantic, and the depositional and bathymetric setting at the time of onset of the main south Atlantic evaporite deposition.

Architectural elements, geometry, and magmatism of the Sub-Saharan Western African passive margin basins: Seismic and gravity data integration

The Western African Sub-Saharan continental margin includes a large region from Cameroon to South Africa comprising distinct margin types – magma-rich, magma-poor and transform margins. The integrated study of geological, seismic and potential field data allows the mapping of a structural framework subdivided in proximal, necking, distal, outer and oceanic domains, characterized by a set of comparable architectural elements and magmatism. These key domains display a strong and consistent continuity along the continental margin. Longitudinal transitional regions occur in a gradual way, but interactions between structural domains along transversal section may also occur, displaying spatial and temporal overprints. Because of this complexity, the outer domain that is the key feature in the magma-rich margin, tends to disappear northwards where the distal and proximal domains of the magma-poor segments become the most important domains of the margin. In the north of Gabon Basin, it is observed both the reappearance of the outer domain and the reworking of the distal domain by fracture zones. The basement of the distal domain within the magma-poor margin is interpreted as made by a hyperextended continental crust but with magmatic additions. Finally, the new proposed continent-ocean boundary (COB) in the region of the Namibe Basin (transitional zone between magma-rich and magma-poor margins) achieves a best fit in a reconstruction model with the limits recognized at the South America side. The results will imply in a drastic reduction on the gap proposed by other recent reconstruction models and also minimize the intraplate deformation required by some other models.

Modeling Lithospheric Thickness Along the Conjugate South Atlantic Passive Margins Implies Asymmetric Rift Initiation

AbstractThe lithospheric architecture of passive margins is crucial for understanding the tectonic processes that caused the breakup of Gondwana. We highlight the evolution of the South Atlantic passive margins by a simple thermal lithosphere‐asthenosphere boundary (LAB) model based on onset and cessation of rifting, crustal thickness, and stretching factors. We simulate lithospheric thinning and select the LAB as the T = 1,330°C isotherm, which is calculated by 1D advection and diffusion. Stretching factors and margin geometry are adjusted to state‐of‐the‐art data sets, giving a thermal LAB model that is especially designed for the continental margins of the South Atlantic. Our LAB model shows distinct variations along the passive margins that are not imaged by global LAB models, indicating different rifting mechanisms. For example, we model up to 200 km deep lithosphere in the South American Santos Basin and shallow lithosphere less than 60 km in the Namibe Basin offshore Africa. These two conjugate basins reflect a strong asymmetry in LAB depth that resembles variations in margin width. In a Gondwana reconstruction, we discuss these patterns together with seismic velocity perturbations for the Central and Austral Segments of the margins. The shallow lithosphere in the Namibe Basin correlates with signatures of the Angola Dome, attributed to epeirogenic uplift in the Neogene, suggesting an additional component of post‐breakup lithospheric thinning.

Crustal and uppermost mantle structure of the NW Namibia continental margin and the Walvis Ridge derived from ambient seismic noise

SUMMARYThe Walvis Ridge (WR) is the most prominent hotspot track related to the opening in the South Atlantic Ocean. Several hypotheses have been developed to explain its origin and evolution. The presence of a massive magmatic structure at the landfall of the WR in Northwest Namibia raised speculation about the role of a hotspot during the opening of the South Atlantic ocean. To investigate its deeper velocity structure at the junction of the WR with the African continent was the focus of the amphibious seismological WALPASS experiment. In total 12 ocean-bottom seismometers and 28 broad-band land stations were installed between 2010 and 2012 to acquire seismological data. Here, we present the results of seismic ambient noise tomography to investigate to which extent the Tristan hotspot modified the crustal structure in the landward prolongation of the ridge and in the adjacent oceanic basins. For the tomography, vertical and hydrophone component cross correlations for >300 d for OBS stations and between 1 and 2 yr for land stations data were analysed. More than 49 000 velocity measurements (742 dispersion curves) were inverted for group velocity maps at 75 individual signal periods, which then had been inverted for a regional 3-D shear wave velocity model. The resulting 3-D model reveals structural features of the crust related to the continent–ocean transition and its disturbance caused by the initial formation of the WR ∼130 Ma. We found relatively thick continental crust below Northwest Namibia and below the near-shore part of the WR, a strong asymmetry offshore with typical, thin oceanic crust in the Namibe Basin (crossing over into the Angola Basin further offshore) to the North and a wide zone of transitional crust towards the Walvis Basin south of the WR.

Late Cretaceous volcanism and fluid circulation in the South Atlantic: Insights from continental carbonates in the onshore Namibe Basin (Angola)

The Namibe Basin developed in the Early Cretaceous as part of the South Atlantic rift system between Africa and South America. Magmatic activity occurred during the syn-rift (Valanginian-Hauterivian) and post-rift (Coniacian-Early Campanian) phases, with the latter triggering fluid circulation events that had significant impacts on reservoir quality and hydrocarbon prospectivity. The continental carbonates of the Mariquita Member (Mb.) developed during the Late Cretaceous magmatic pulse and record the associated fluid circulation. Thus, study of these carbonates provides insights into paleo-fluid sources and circulation pathways, which can ultimately help to constrain diagenetic phases, their effects on reservoir quality, and hydrocarbon re-mobilisation.This study analyses the tectonostratigraphic setting, facies and diagenesis of the Mariquita Mb. carbonates by integrating field, petrographic and geochemical data. The carbonates are stratigraphically bound by Upper Cretaceous magmatic rocks, and constitute a series of fault-associated spring mound systems that pass laterally into lacustrine sediments. The main diagenetic events include pervasive dolomitisation, silicification and multi-stage fracturing. Fluid temperatures during dolomitisation were between ∼32 and 56 °C, while silicification occurred between ∼70 and > 260 °C. Fluids likely followed fault-controlled convective circulation pathways. The fluid compositions comprised infiltrated/modified meteoric and marine waters, as suggested by negative carbon isotopes, enriched oxygen and strontium isotopes, and REE data. Fluid modification occurred via interaction with subsurface rock units, such as basement, volcanic/siliciclastic aquifers and evaporites. However, higher temperatures during silicification could suggest late contributions from magmatic fluids too. Bitumen within porosity possibly reflects regional hydrocarbon mobilisation processes driven by magmatic fluids.

Geochronology of volcanically associated hydrocarbon charge in the pre-salt carbonates of the Namibe Basin, Angola

Abstract In volcanic rifted margins, the timing of hydrocarbon charge is difficult to predict, but is important in understanding fluid genesis. We investigated whether igneous activity was linked to hydrocarbon charge in the prolific South Atlantic pre-salt petroleum system. To do this, we applied in situ carbonate U-Pb geochronology, a relatively novel tool for dating hydrocarbon migration, to bituminous veins in pre-salt travertines from the rifted onshore Namibe Basin (Angola). To test if fluid flow was synchronous with known volcanic pulses, we also obtained new 40Ar/39Ar geochronology from a nearby volcanic complex. Bitumen is associated with calcite in a first generation of veins and vugs, and with dolomite in younger veins. The dated calcite veins yielded a pooled U-Pb age of 86.2 ± 2.4 Ma, which overlaps the volcanism 40Ar/39Ar age of 89.9 ± 1.8 Ma. The overlapping dates and the localized bitumen occurrence around the dated volcanic center show a clear genetic relationship between Late Cretaceous igneous activity and hydrocarbon charge. The dolomite was dated at 56.8 ± 4.8 Ma, revealing a previously unknown Paleocene/Eocene fluid-flow phase in the basin.

Comparison of the rift and post-rift architecture of conjugated salt and salt-free basins offshore Brazil and Angola/Namibia, South Atlantic

This study presents a regional comparison between selected 2D seismic transects from large, conjugated salt and salt-free basins offshore southern Brazil (Campos Basin, Santos Basin, Pelotas Basin) and southwest Africa (Kwanza Basin, northern and southern Namibe Basin, Walvis Basin). Tectonic-stratigraphic interpretation of the main rift and post-rift units, free-air gravity data and flexural isostatic backstripping were used for a comprehensive basin-to-basin documentation of key mechanisms controlling the present-day differences in conjugated and neighbouring South Atlantic basins. A significant variation in the tectonic-sedimentary architecture along-strike at each margin and between the conjugated basins across the South Atlantic reflects major differences in (1) the structural configuration of each margin segment at transitional phase between rifting and breakup, as emphasized in the highly asymmetric settings of the large Santos salt basin and the conjugated, salt-free southern Namibe Basin, (2) the post-breakup subsidence and uplift history of the respective margin segment, which caused major differences for example between the Campos and Espirito Santo basins and the conjugated northern Namibe and Kwanza basins, (3) variations in the quantity and distribution of post-breakup margin sediments, which led to major differences in the subsidence history and the related present-day basin architecture, for example in the initially rather symmetric, siliciclastic Pelotas and Walvis basins, and (4) the deposition of Aptian evaporites in the large rift and sag basin provinces north of the Rio Grande Rise and Walvis Ridge, highly contrasting the siliciclastic basins along the margin segments south of the ridges. The resulting present-day architecture of the basins can be generally classified as (i) moderately symmetric, salt-free, and magma-rich in the northern part of the southern segment, (i) highly asymmetric, salt-bearing and magma-poor vs. salt-free and magma-rich in the southern part of the central segment, and (iii) moderately symmetric to asymmetric, salt-rich, and magma-poor in the central part of the central segment of the South Atlantic.

The Bero Volcanic Complex: Extension of the Paraná-Etendeka Igneous Province into SW Angola

An extension of the Etendeka-Paraná Igneous Province into SW Angola occurs as minor basalt lavas, intrusive gabbro sheets, minor mafic dykes and thick sheets and lava flows (with minor pyroclastics) of quartz latite composition This suite crops out along the eastern margin of the Cretaceous Namibe Basin in SW Angola. The quartz latites from one locality have been referred to informally as the Giraul volcanics but the name ‘Giraul’ has previously been used for Cretaceous conglomerates. We propose the name Bero Volcanic Complex for this suite of intrusive and extrusive rocks on the basis that the full compositional range of this diverse suite crops out along the Rio Bero. Major and trace element compositions and Sr-, Nd-, and Pb-isotopic compositions indicate that the basalts and gabbros are equivalent to the high-Ti Khumib/Urubici and Pitanga types from the Etendeka and Paraná. The basalts underlie the quartz latites which are cut by mafic dykes some of which are compositionally equivalent to the Paranapanema lavas in the Paraná. Five different geochemical types of high-Ti quartz latite are recognised amongst the silicic volcanics, 3 of which have very close geochemical affinities to the Ventura, Sarusas, and Khoraseb types of the northern Etendeka. Their relative stratigraphic position in the Bero volcanic sequence is the same as in the Etendeka sequence and extend significantly the area over which these types were erupted. The two remaining types, Chinguau and High-Nb are not known from either the Etendeka or the Paraná provinces.

Origin and diagenetic evolution of gypsum and microbialitic carbonates in the Late Sag of the Namibe Basin (SW Angola)

Ephemeral evaporitic conditions developed within the uppermost part of the transgressive Late Sag sequence in the Namibe Basin (SW Angola), leading to the formation of extensive centimetre- to metre-thick sulphate-bearing deposits and correlative microbialitic carbonates rich in pseudomorphs after evaporite crystals. The onshore pre-salt beds examined in this study are located up to 25m underneath the major mid-Aptian evaporitic succession, which is typified at the outcrop by gypsiferous Bambata Formation and in the subsurface by the halite-dominated Loeme Formation.Carbonate–evaporite cycles mostly occur at the top of metre-thick regressive parasequences, which progressively onlap and overstep landward the former faulted (rift) topography, or fill major pre-salt palaeo-valleys. The sulphate beds are made up of alabastrine gypsum associated with embedded botryoidal nodules, dissolution-related gypsum breccia, and are cross-cut by thin satin-spar gypsum veins. Nodular and fine-grained fabrics are interpreted as being diagenetic gypsum deposits resulting from the dissolution and recrystallisation of former depositional subaqueous sulphates, whereas gypsum veins and breccia result from telogenetic processes.The carbonates display a broader diversity of facies, characterised by rapid lateral variations along strike. Thin dolomitic and calcitic bacterial-mediated filamentous microbialitic boundstones enclose a broad variety of evaporite pseudomorphs and can pass laterally over a few metres into sulphate beds. Dissolution-related depositional breccias are also common and indicate early dissolution of former evaporite layers embedded within the microbialites. Sulphate and carbonate units are interpreted as being concomitantly deposited along a tide-dominated coastal supra- to intertidal- sabkha and constitute high-frequency hypersaline precursor events, prior to the accumulation of the giant saline mid-Aptian Bambata and Loeme Formations.Petrographic and geochemical analyses reveal successive dissolution, recrystallisation and cementation phases that occurred during burial, uplift and exhumation, implying a complex diagenetic evolution of both gypsum and carbonates, influenced by pore fluids of diverse composition which distinctly varied from meso- to telogenetic domains.

Algal–microbial carbonates of the Namibe Basin (Albian, Angola): implications for microbial carbonate mound development in the South Atlantic

Albian carbonate reservoirs are prominent in the subsurface of the South Atlantic. Equivalent exposures in southern Angola (Benguela and Namibe basins) have received relatively little detailed sedimentological work. In the Namibe Basin, carbonates form metre-thick beds interbedded with shallow-marine and continental alluvial fan siliciclastics. Characteristic carbonate mounds (≤5 m high, 1–2 m in diameter) rise above a basal carbonate bed, which consists of oncoid–peloidal rud-grainstones with oysters and echinoderms. Thrombolite mound microfacies include red algae and microbial–algal crusts. The microfacies are marine, and compare with documented occurrences of algal–microbial–oncoidal textures in Albian carbonates of the Congo and Angola. Burial processes dominated diagenesis and have reset carbonate geochemistry from marine values, with the probable exception of Mg concentrations. Up to 22% of primary (intergranular) and secondary (microporosity, mouldic, vuggy, fracture) porosity developed as a consequence of important dissolution and partial cementation. Two depositional models for the localized mound occurrence are discussed: (1) marine ingression into a coastal embayment and the formation of shallow-water microbial bioherms; and (2) a submarine groundwater spring discharging in coastal areas downdip from alluvial siliciclastics. Marine fauna, similarity with marine Albian strata elsewhere and a partly preserved marine Mg geochemical signature favour a marine ingression. Environmental conditions were likely to have been stressed on account of the siliciclastic input, variable salinity and elevated nutrients, all of which are consistent with the observed microfacies. A submarine spring is conceptually feasible, but is considered to be less likely owing to the absence of a clear meteoric signature and the low likelihood of bicarbonate-rich groundwater in the region. Using the discussion of depositional models for the studied outcrop, and incorporating a literature review, the study proposes a set of criteria to distinguish various marine and non-marine carbonate mounds in the subsurface. The most diagnostic criteria are: (1) marine or continental fauna; (2) sediment geochemistry, in particular Mg, Sr, and δ 13 C and δ 18 O isotopes where preserved through diagenesis; and (3) carbonate fabrics, such as crystalline shrubs, that are diagnostic of thermogenic continental mounds. The scale of geobodies and the mineralogy of mounds can sometimes be used as additional criteria. This set of criteria can help exploration and production geologists who need to devise exploration and development strategies in unconventional carbonate reservoirs of the South Atlantic and other rift basins.

Diagenetic evolution of Aptian evaporites in the Namibe Basin (south‐west Angola)

AbstractThe widespread and dissected nature of the Angolan gypsiferous salt residuals offers a uniquely detailed view of the lateral and vertical relations inherent to secondary evaporite textures, which typify exhumed salt masses worldwide. Such secondary textures are sometimes misinterpreted as primary evaporite textures. Thin, metre‐scale and patchy, dome‐like gypsum accumulations are well‐exposed within strongly incised present‐day river valleys along the eastern margin of the Namibe and Benguela basins (south‐west Angola). These sections are time equivalent to the main basinward subsurface evaporites (Aptian Loeme Formation) which mostly consist of halite. The gypsum (here called the Bambata Formation) is interpreted to represent the final residual product of fractional dissolution and recrystallization of the halite mass that occurred during Late Cretaceous margin uplift and continues today. This halite underwent multiple episodes of diagenetic alteration between its deposition and its final exhumation, leading to the formation of various secondary gypsum fabrics and solution‐related karst and breccia textures that typify the current evaporite outcrop. Four different diagenetic gypsum fabrics are defined: thinly bedded alabastrine, nodular alabastrine, displacive selenite rosettes and fibrous satin‐spar gypsum. Current arid conditions are responsible for a thin weathered crust developed at the top of the outcropping gypsum, but the fabrics in the main core of the current at‐surface evaporite unit mostly formed during the telogenetic stage of uplift prior to complete subaerial exposure. Alteration occurred as various dissolving and rehydrating saline minerals encountered shallow aquifers in the active phreatic and vadose zones. Geomorphological and petrographic analyses, mostly based on the cross‐cutting relations and crystallographic patterns in the outcrop, are used to propose a sequence of formation of these different fabrics.

Carbon isotope stratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, and 40Ar/39Ar age of the Cretaceous South Atlantic coast, Namibe Basin, Angola

We present the δ13C and paleomagnetic stratigraphy for marine strata at the coast of southern Angola, anchored by an intercalated basalt with a whole rock 40Ar/39Ar radiometric age of 84.6±1.5Ma, being consistent with both invertebrate and vertebrate biostratigraphy. This is the first African stable carbon isotope record correlated to significant events in the global carbon record spanning the Late Cenomanian to Early Maastrichtian. A positive ∼3‰ excursion seen in bivalve shells below the basalt indicates the Cenomanian–Turonian Boundary Event at 93.9Ma, during Oceanic Anoxic Event 2. Additional excursions above the basalt are correlated to patterns globally, including a negative ∼3‰ excursion near the top of the section interpreted as part of the Campanian–Maastrichtian Boundary Events. The age of the basalt ties the studied Bentiaba section to a pulse of Late Cretaceous magmatic activity around the South Atlantic and significant tectonic activity, including rotation, of the African continent.

Structural features of the Southwest African continental margin according to results of lithosphere-scale 3D gravity and thermal modelling

Abstract To understand the structure of the Southwest African continental margin, a lithosphere-scale 3D structural model has been developed, covering the marginal Cretaceous-Cenozoic Orange, Luderitz, Walvis and Namibe basins, the easternmost Walvis Ridge offshore. Onshore, the model includes two late-Proterozoic Owambo (Etosha) and Nama basins. This 3D model integrates published thickness maps (sediment isopach maps), shallow seismic and well data as well as published deep seismic information and has been additionally constrained by 3D gravity and thermal modelling. Using 3D gravity modelling, the first order configuration of the crystalline crust has been resolved with respect to the location of the continent–ocean boundary. The distribution of a high-density lower crustal layer indicates a continuous body extending below the Cretaceous-Cenozoic depocentres and aligned parallel to the coast line. In addition, high-density zones within the continental crystalline crust had to be included in the model to fit observed and calculated gravity. The obtained Moho topography correlates with the major tectonic units of this continental margin. The results of the 3D thermal modelling indicate that there is a clear relationship between the location of thickened sediments and areas with increased temperatures within the upper 10 km of the 3D model. This indicates that the low thermal conductivity of the sediments increases heat storage within the areas covered by thick sediments. Within the deeper crust, the main feature of the temperature distribution is the transition across the continental margin from the relatively cold oceanic part to the warm continental one. This regional pattern is controlled by the thickness of the crystalline continental crust, which is characterized by an increased radiogenic heat production. At a depth of 80–90 km, the temperature becomes higher beneath the oceanic domain than beneath the continent, reflecting the configuration of the lower thermal boundary which is represented by an isothermal lithosphere–asthenosphere boundary.

Kinematic keys of the Santos–Namibe basins

Abstract Understanding the genesis of the very peculiar 600 km-wide Santos Basin–São Paulo Plateau system and its narrow conjugate Namibe Margin is a kinematic and structural problem. Several hypotheses have been proposed in order to explain the genesis of this system that imply the same amount of horizontal movement. We investigate the consequences of the horizontal movement in the Santos Basin, based in plate kinematic reconstructions. The kinematic history of this system that we present here, based on the interpretation of seismic profiles and kinematic constraints, has the following consequences: (1) there is no evidence of a ridge jump sensu stricto but, rather, a southwards propagation in the Central Segment of the South Atlantic that starts in the northern part, between the NE Brazilian and Gabonese margins; (2) the Namibe margin evolved as a transform passive margin; (3) the opening direction of the Santos Basin–São Paulo Plateau system is oblique to the general opening motions of the South American and African plates; and (4) this opening is younger (6 Ma) than those of the other basins of the Central Segment of the South Atlantic.

Exploring for gas: the future for Angola

Abstract Offshore Angola is a world-class petroleum province with oil production in excess of 2 million barrels per day in 2008. Exploration activity in the offshore commenced in earnest in the early 1990s, with the contractual terms permitting only the production of oil. There is no provision for the production of gas. However, there have been several discoveries of associated and non-associated gas, by accident, in the search for oil. Gas will play a significant role in the future of Angola. A new gas business is emerging. Demand from a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, the emerging Soyo industrial complex and the growing domestic and industrial sectors have created a business environment whereby near-term gas exploration, development and production is a critical need for the future of Angola. What is the gas resource potential of Angola: from mature basins to new frontiers? Is there potential for new giant gas fields? Conceivably, there are multiple petroleum system opportunities. This paper provides some insights into the petroleum geoscience exploration efforts being made by Angola's national gas company, Sonangol Gas Natural. The focus of this paper will be on the exploration for non-associated gas. The associated gas potential of Angola is relatively well known and will not be discussed. Sonangol Gas Natural has an extensive offshore seismic and well database. This is characterized by a series of merged, high-quality 3D seismic surveys that facilitate the application of the most advanced technologies. In excess of 130 offshore wells have encountered gas at multiple stratigraphic levels. However, the interior basins are a truly frontier province and data are limited to a regional gravity and magnetic dataset and surface rock outcrops. The conventional thermogenic petroleum systems of the offshore and the adjacent onshore Lower Congo, Kwanza/Benguela and Namibe basins are relatively well known. These comprise a Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic post-salt petroleum system, and an Early Cretaceous and Late Jurassic pre-salt petroleum system. The primary emphasis of the exploration effort in these basins is to better understand and to delineate the gas kitchens for the known source horizons, for example Malembo, Iabe (post-Aptian salt) and Bucomazi (pre-Aptian salt) formations. Biogenic gas plays constitute an unconventional petroleum system that requires different exploration concepts from those of conventional thermogenic petroleum systems. The principal challenges are to identify palaeo-gas hydrates, reservoired in Miocene clastics, to define the biogenic gas fairway and to evaluate the play elements of reservoir, trap and seal. The geological conditions necessary to establish a biogenic gas play in the deepwater and ultra-deepwater will be examined. The interior Owambo, Okawango and Kassanje Basins have no proven petroleum systems. However, some new play concepts of Neoproterozoic age will be presented using possible analogues worldwide. The future demand for gas will increase globally. New developments in LNG will change the world of gas. Angola will be a key player.

Hydrate occurrences in the Namibe Basin, offshore Namibia

Abstract Seismic data has long suggested the presence of methane hydrates offshore Namibia. The seismic data shows the presence of well-developed bottom-simulating reflectors which can be mapped over a large area. A recent seabed coring programme has confirmed the presence of hydrates in the Namibe Basin. The hydrates appear to be associated with slump features and are a drilling hazard as well as a potential resource. The methane hydrate appears to originate from both biogenic and thermogenic sources.