Tectonostratigraphy of Jurassic-Cretaceous clastic reservoirs deposited within NW-SE trending half grabens in offshore Kutch Basin, India

Kutch-Saurashtra basin is a category-II petroliferous basin of India, geologically privileged to possess a complete stratigraphic section from Triassic to Quaternary. Hydrocarbon successes in Mesozoics, however sporadic in quantum and geographical distribution, occur widely in stratigraphic scale from Late Jurassic, Early-Late Cretaceous, Deccan Trap and even in fractured igneous intrusions. Sporadic geographic distribution of hydrocarbon successes in Mesozoic pays is due to rapid lateral variation in lithology which in turn is attributed to a complex tectonic history. Extensional tectonics and associated magmatism plays pivotal role in the Mesozoic depositional history of Kutch-Saurashtra basin. Mesozoic exploration is a high cost and high risk affair as it demands drilling through 1500m–2500m thick Deccan Trap basalt to reach the target plays that are more than 4000m deep. Tectono-stratigraphy is an analysis of vertical and lateral dissimilarity in litho- facies arising due to the effect of prevalent tectonics at play during the sedimentary processes. The study area is located towards south of Kutch offshore basin, wherein, hydrocarbon discoveries have been encountered in Early Cretaceous and Late Jurassic strata.