The Miocene Turbidite Play in the Distal Domain of the Offshore South Gabon Sub-Basin

The introduction of an exploratory play in the offshore distal domain of the South Gabon Sub-Basin is discussed based on the analysis of new seismic data available. The post-salt formations in the distal Sub-Basin have not been extensively explored in the past although many discoveries have been made in the analogous southern Lower Congo Basin. The lack of interest in the post-salt formations was partly based on the former depositional models that predicted scarcity of sand deposition basin-wards of the Atlantic Hinge Zone except for poor-quality mass transport deposits sourced from Gabon rivers such as Ogooué and Nyanga. The 2016 CGG Multi-client offshore 3D broadband seismic acquisition, processing and seismic interpretation, together with the integration of the regional data available, has allowed the proposal of a renewed paleo-geographic model. The application of RMS amplitude and Spectral Decomposition attributes extraction predicts the deposition of Miocene turbidite sands sourced from the drainage of the Paleo-Congo River. Stratigraphic pinch-outs have been identified as the main mechanism of entrapment. A methodology for de-risking the Miocene Turbidite potential has been developed focusing on AVO attributes and AVO modelling.