Petroleum systems of the deepwater Mozambique Basin

The Mozambique margin is relatively under explored with a small number of wells both onshore and offshore. Nine major gas fields have been identified to date (Brownfield et al., 2012), which are believed to contain a combined more than 150 trillion ft3 of natural gas. The discovery of large natural gas fields in the Rovuma basin represents one of the most exciting exploration successes of recent years and Mozambique is now considered to be a prolific hydrocarbon province (Hollebeek et al., 2015). This exploration study utilizes a modern, regional 2D seismic grid that was acquired in 2013 and processed to depth in 2015. It covers a large proportion of the Mozambique offshore province (Figure 1) and was used to assess hydrocarbon prospectivity in the region. Seven mega-sequences were identified based on stratigraphy from well ties (Uzcategui et al., 2014), the regional geology and seismic character and were interpreted throughout the study area. This interpretation provided a basin-scale, structural framework in which to model the petroleum systems. Structural and stratigraphic plays were mapped, assessed and built into a 3D model that assesses the viability and quality of petroleum systems offshore Mozambique.