Abstract
This paper systematically investigates and compares the petroleum geology elements and oil and gas exploration potential in the deep-water basins along the conjugate passive margins between Morocco in NW Africa and Nova Scotia in Canada. Both the deep-water basins along the passive margin in Morocco and its conjugate passive margin deep-water basin in Nova Scotia have undergone similar multiple stages of tectonic evolution. These conjugate basins both have Jurassic and Cretaceous source rocks; Triassic sandstone, Jurassic-Cretaceous carbonate and sandstone, and Miocene-Pliocene sandstone reservoirs; multiple sets of mudstones and regional Triassic salt as caprocks. These characteristics indicate good hydrocarbon accumulation conditions and exploration prospects. The comparison also reveals that the key exploration targets in the deep-water basins of Morocco should be Tertiary turbidite sandstone reservoirs and Jurassic-Cretaceous sandstone and carbonate reservoirs. Compared with the Scotian Basin, the Morocco deep-water basins may have Paleozoic play potential sourced from the mature Silurian hot shale source rock that extends from the onshore NW African Plate. The prospective exploration targets in the deep-water Scotian Basin should be focused on the Jurassic and Cretaceous deep-water turbidite sandstone reservoirs formed by widely-developed large river systems.
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The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was funded by the National Science and Technology Major Project Foundation of China (Nos. 2017ZX05001-005, 2016ZX05029-001) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41728004). The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-020-1340-8.
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Song, C., Jiang, S., Wen, Z. et al. Comparison of the Petroleum Geology in the Deep-Water Basins between the Passive Margin of Morocco and Its Conjugate Margin of Canada. J. Earth Sci. 31, 919–929 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-020-1340-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-020-1340-8