Petroleum Geology of North Africa (GG08)


DATE	LOCATION	FEES		REGISTRATION


2011	tba		Course Fee: tba

Instructor

Jonathan Redfern

Course Level: Intermediate

North Africa holds huge reserves and resources of oil and gas and contains some of the most important regions for future hydrocarbon production.  The recent drilling successes onshore Algeria and offshore Egypt, and renewed industry interest in Libya have re-invigorated exploration activity. This course introduces the petroleum geology of North Africa, reviews the main depositional elements across the region, and examines the petroleum systems and play types basin by basin.

The course involves a series of presentations of the geology of the region.  Field photographs, typical well data and seismic is presented.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:
This course provides a comprehensive overview of the regions' geology, reviewing the structural evolution of the area, and then examining each stratigraphic interval, illustrating the evolving depositional systems across North Africa.  The course also reviews the petroleum geology of each main sedimentary basin, highlighting the main petroleum systems, and discussing the main reservoirs, source and hydrocarbon generation, seal and trap types.

OUTLINE

Main depositional basins
Structural evolution of North Africa
Regional stratigraphy / sequence stratigraphy
-  Palaeozoic
-  Mesozoic
-  Cenozoic
Principal source rocks:
-  Infra-Cambrian (potential?)
-  Silurian (Tannezuft)
-  Devonian (Frasnian)
-  Cretaceous (Sirte / Rachmat)
-  Cenozoic
Hydrocarbon generation and basin modeling
Principal reservoirs
-  Infra-Cambrian
-  Cambro-Ordovician (Memouniat, Gargaf, Hamra Qzt)
-  Silurian (Acacus)
-  Devonian (Tadrart)
-  Carboniferous (Mrar)
-  Permo-Triassic (TAG-I, Ras Hamia)
-  Cretaceous (Nubian Sst)
-  Tertiary carbonates (Sabil, Gialo etc) and clastics
Basin Review and Petroleum Systems
-  Algeria (Ahnet, Reganne, Tindouf, Timimoun, Ghadames, Illizi, Atlas, Offshore)
-  Libya (Ghadames, Sirt, Kufra, Murzuk, Offshore Sirt and Pelagian)
-  Egypt (Red Sea, Offshore Nile, Western Desert)
-  Tunisia (Ghadames, Pelagian Shelf)
-  Morocco (Rif, Essaouira, Central Meseta)

WHO SHOULD ATTEND
This course provides an invaluable introduction for geologists new to the region, or for those wishing to take a broader regional overview to aid exploration. It is suitable for geologists or geophysicists, reservoir engineers or new ventures managers.

INSTRUCTOR

Jonathan Redfern