Harry Doust

Utrecht University | UU · Department of Earth Sciences

The Suriname–Guyana and Ghana–Ivorian Basins exhibit strong geological similarities which are of interest from a petroleum exploration point of view. These include (1) a well-developed system of Late Cretaceous erosional canyons allowing coarse-grained shallow-water clastics to enter the deep marine basin to form attractive turbidite exploration ta...

We review the structural genesis and evolutionary history of basins along the Brazilian South Atlantic margin from the Sergipe-Alagoas (north) to the Pelotas basin (south), and demonstrate the links with petroleum system and play development. In our approach, we first break basins down into their tectonostratigraphic megasequences and define their...

Sedimentary basins can be classified according to their structural genesis and evolutionary history and comprise tectonic and sedimentary cycles and stages, to which common elements of petroleum systems and plays may be linked. We describe a new method that allows easier and more efficient comparisons between petroliferous sedimentary basins with s...

The Campos Basin is a petroleum-productive, marginal sag basin along the Brazilian margin. It contains a stratigraphic sequence recording lithospheric extension and rift tectonics developing to a fully evolved post-break-up setting. We present a combined approach using subsidence analysis and basin history inversion models to make predictions on so...

We present the results of an integrated analogue and numerical modeling study with a focus on structural, stratigraphic and thermal differences between symmetric and asymmetric grabens. These models enable fault interpretation and subsidence analyses in studies of active rifting and graben migration. We imported the surface topography and crustal t...

Among the oil and gas exploration community, the "play" has an almost mythical status-the successful play is the thing of which legends are made, and playmakers are regarded as heroes of the industry. But what is the play exactly and why do we need it? Curiously, considering the long period it has been in daily use, it has never really been unambig...

The Transylvanian Basin is a mature hydrocarbon province of Romania characterized by two petroleum systems: Mesozoic (thermogenic) and Miocene (biogenic). An extensive outcrop-based sedimentological and micropaleontological study correlated to seismic and well data discusses the elements of the Miocene petroleum system. The facies associations are...

We apply the concept that sedimentary basins can be classified according to their structural genesis and evolutionary history to the Tertiary rifts of the Pannonian Basin of Eastern Europe.We have approached the classification by breaking the basins down into the cycles or stages that they comprise. This approach helps us to understand the basin ev...

Indonesia contains many Tertiary basins, several of which have proven to be very prolific producers of oil and gas. The geology and petroleum systems of these productive basins are reviewed, summarized and updated according to the most recent developments. We have linked the recognized petroleum systems to common stages in the geological evolution...

This paper synthesizes some of the main conclusions reached in a recent regional review of the Tertiary basins of Southeast Asia, carried out by Shell. Four distinctive types of petroleum systems, correlating with the four main stages of basin evolution (early to late syn-rift and early to late post-rift), are developed widely in the basins. These...

From a hydrocarbon exploration point of view, the Far East is typically the realm of Tertiary basins with youthful prospects. Considering the archipelagic nature of the area and the extensive marine environments associated with shallow seas, it is perhaps surprising that nearly all of the oil and gas in these basins is of terrestrial origin (typica...

The Niger Delta is one of the World’s largest Tertiary delta systems and an extremely prolific hydrocarbon province. It is situated on the West African continental margin at the apex of the Gulf of Guinea, which formed the site of a triple junction during continental break-up in the Cretaceous. Throughout its history, the delta has been fed by the...

This paper describes one of the world's major hydrocarbon provinces, the Niger delta. An introduction describes the regional setting of the delta, the deltaic framework and morphology, and the present morphology. Major sections within the paper consider the stratigraphy, basin architecture and tectonics, as well as oil and gas systems and a review...

The sedimentary fill of the delta encompasses the Tertiary, during which it has been fed by the drainage systems of the Niger, Benue and Cross rivers. The present-day delta is a complex of individual fluviomarine systems that have succeeded one another in a stepwise fashion as the delta prograded towards the southwest. Hydrocarbons are trapped in g...

Off the southern coast of Australia, exploration results and deep-water reconnaissance seismic data support the concept of an aseismic Atlantic-type continental margin. Characteristic is a sedimentary wedge which extends from the shelf to the abyssal plains and includes crustal elements of continental and oceanic origin.Oceanward, a continuous leve...