Puntland Strategy, find it, prove it, sell it!....It would be...

Puntland Strategy, find it, prove it, sell it!....It would be difficult to imagine that Somalia does not have oil reserves on a par with the Yemen and it is entirely possible that there is a lot more.

The Nugaal and Dharoor Blocks are located in the Nugaal and Darin Mesozoic basins in northern Somalia. The Mesozoic basins are interpreted to be extensions of the Marib-Shawba and Sayun-Masila Basins of Yemen. Prior to the opening of the Gulf of Aden in the Oligocene-Miocene, these areas were contiguous and similar sedimentary sequences and structural styles are likely.


Cretaceous basins rifted apart beginning 16-18 million years ago

http://1.2.3.13/bmi/www.africaoilcorp.com/i/maps2009/Yemen_Somali_basins_pre_rift.gif

http://1.2.3.12/bmi/www.africaoilcorp.com/i/maps2009/Yemen_Somali_basins_post_rift.gif

These concessions are very large and, with only 5 wells drilled, the area remains one of the least explored areas in North Africa.

The Nugaal Basin covered by the Nugaal Valley Block has been identified as having reservoir, source rock and trap potential. International oil and gas companies conducted exploration in the late 1980's in the region. During this exploration phase, a grid of 2D seismic was shot perpendicular to the axis of the rift system in the Nugaal Basin. Based on interpreted maps this data shows a number of large, closed, fault-controlled structures.

In addition, surface geology identified a number of oil seeps along the main basin-bounding faults. Wells drilled on the identified structures encountered numerous oil shows, however, the wells (Nugaal-1 and Kalis-1) did not reach the main exploration target.

The basin fill is extremely thick, with more than 10,000 feet of sediments in some areas. The main target reservoir is the Jurassic-aged sandstones belonging to the Gabredarre Formation. These reservoir sandstones overlie the organic rich shales and marls of the Uarandab Formation, which is thought to be the source rock for the oil seeps observed along the boundary faults. The secondary reservoirs include the deep marine sandstones and shallow marine carbonates belonging to the Upper Cretaceous Gumburo Formation. The marine sandstones of the Jesomma Formation, also Upper Cretaceous in age, are also potential secondary targets. The Jesomma and Gumburo have isopach thicknesses of approximately 1,350 and 2,450 feet, respectively.

The indications from the limited number of wells drilled in the basin are that the basins appear to be oil-prone.