f Paleozoic Petroleum Geology And New Oil Field Discoveries In Area-147/3-4, Murzuq Basin In Libya

Large volumes of oil and gas have been generated and trapped within Paleozoic sections in western Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. The Ghadamis and Murzuq Basins, located in the western half of Libya, are the most attractive oil and gas exploration areas for the last decades due to the increasing number of new oil discoveries. The lower part of Silurian Tanezzuft Formation, so called “Hot Shale”, is the major source rock of northwestern African oil and gas fields due to high organic matter content. The Late Ordovician glacial events played a major role in the development of paleo-highs and lows that controlled source rock and reservoir rock distribution. Two major migration systems can be observed in the Murzuq Basin: a fault related vertical oil migration to Devonian reservoirs and combined lateral and vertical oil migration into older, i.e., Cambro-Ordovician, reservoirs and traps. Turkish Petroleum Overseas Company (TPOC), a subsidiary of Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO), tested 11 prospects and discovered 7 oil fields in Area-147/3-4 in the Murzuq Basin. Proven hydrocarbon distribution in the Murzuq Basin reflects the interaction of several factors such as regional structural evolution, source rock quality, distribution and maturity, trap geometry and age, and reservoir quality both in terms of facies variations and diagenetic changes. Migration pathways are controlled by adjacent reservoir facies variations, the fault system distribution, trap type configurations, and the Tanezzuft Shale seal efficiency. The Early Devonian erosion mostly eroded Silurian top seal towards the Gargaf uplift in the northwestern edge of the Murzuq Basin.