Subsalt Exploration for fractured Basement play in Sabatayn Basin, Yemen

The Sabatayn Basin is located in Onshore Central Yemen and is part of a triple-junction system of grabens which developed in response to the break-up of Gondwanaland and opening of the Indian Ocean during the late Jurassic. The Sabatayn Basin is distinguished from the other rift basins of Yemen, such as the Masila Basin located immediately to the northeast, by the deposition of the thick late to post-rift Jurassic salt deposits of the Safer Formation. The presence of this salt is a critical element in the success of the prolific Alif play. Firstly it provides an effective top-seal for the Alif sandstone reservoirs which are interbedded within the basal section of the Safer Formation. In addition, salt mobilization during the Cretaceous was responsible for the formation of roll-over traps such as the Halewah Field. In some instances fractured basement seems to act as a migration conduit between the Jurassic Lam and Meem source rocks and Alif play traps. The presence of salt has a downside as it is responsible, along with irregular topography, for the poor seismic imaging of sub-salt exploration targets thus making the definition of basement trap geometries highly challenging.