Print this pageAAPG ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION
Making the Next Giant Leap in Geosciences
April 10-13, 2011, Houston, Texas, USA
Using Modern Seismic Techniques to Unlock India's Deep Water Pre-basalt Hydrocarbon Potential
(1) Spectrum, Woking, United Kingdom.
(2) Spectrum Geo Inc, Houston, TX.
Deep Water exploration efforts offshore India have thus far focused on the East Coast where a number of large discoveries have been made in the Krishna Godvari and other basins.
As the search for new hydrocarbon sources intensifies attention is now turning to the deep offshore area of the West Coast of India where outside the petroliferous (shallow water) province of the Mumbai High, exploration to date has been frontier in nature with very little wells drilled to date.
Using recently re-processed seismic data (from a 12,000 km regional 2D seismic survey collected for the Directorate General Hydrocarbons - DGH - in 2002) we show how the application of modern seismic techniques such as Radon Demultiple, PSTM and PSDM has significantly upgraded the petroleum potential of the area.
Spectrum’s reprocessed 2D seismic dataset has allowed explorationists to image and interpret below the Late Cretaceous/Early Tertiary Deccan basalts in this area for the first time. Consequently, plays in both the Tertiary and the deeper Mesozoic section, below the Deccan basalts, are now recognised.
Interpretation of the dataset has shown that the Mesozoic province extends over 200km offshore and into water-depths of up to 3500m. It is postulated that the Mesozoic section could range from Triassic Karoo fluvial sandstones and shales, through Jurassic marine shales and sands, to Early Cretaceous restricted marine shales and sands. Numerous prospects have been identified in the area and include both stratigraphic and structural play types, with a number of associated DHI’s.
The reprocessed seismic data has provided structural and stratigraphic insight into the deep water pre-Basalt section, where it is hoped the next generation of offshore Indian major hydrocarbon fields may be found.