Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:

10.1144/SP369.18

The Namibian and Brazilian southern South Atlantic petroleum

systems: are they comparable analogues?
MARCIO ROCHA MELLO1*, NILO C. DE AZAMBUJA FILHO1, ANDRE A. BENDER1,
SILVANA MARIA BARBANTI2, WEBSTER MOHRIAK1, PRISCILA SCHMITT1 &
CARLOS LUCIANO C. DE JESUS1
1

HRT Oil & Gas, Avenida Atlantica 1130, 7th Floor, Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2

Integrated Petroleum Expertise Company (IPEX), Rua Dezenove de Fevereiro,

69/71 Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*Corresponding author (e-mail: marcio@hrt.com.br)
Abstract: Tectonic reconstructions made across the southern South Atlantic Ocean indicate a
diversity of rift and drift basin characteristics on the conjugate margins that define them as different
stratigraphic and structural entities., In terms of petroleum systems, the basins are not as unlike as
some characteristics suggest. Given the lack of significant hydrocarbon discoveries to date south of
the Walvis Ridge, doubts have been cast on the presence in this area of the prolific Lower Cretaceous lacustrine and marine source rock systems, which are well known in the Greater Campos
Basin and offshore Angola. Oils and condensates from the basins south and north of the Walvis
Ridge exhibit geochemical similarities suggesting that comparable source rock systems are
present in both areas. The condensate geochemical analysis results from the Kudu Field in
Namibia are compared with oils from marine and lacustrine sources in Brazil, indicating that
the Kudu condensates are derived from at least two different source rocks. These results suggest
that the underexplored basins offshore Namibia contain thermally mature Lower Cretaceous lacustrine and marine source rocks, offering a new frontier for petroleum exploration in Africas
southern South Atlantic.

The geological similarities of the sedimentary

basins in the South Atlantic go back to the Mesozoic
when Africa and South America were connected
and started to undergo extension to form a series
of Late Jurassic Early Cretaceous rift basins
(Tankard et al. 1995). Several workers have
suggested that the West African margin rifting
resulted in three discrete lacustrine phases, each
phase having its own particular deformation style
ranging from Neocomian to Early Aptian (Brice
et al. 1982; Mello et al. 1990b, 1991; Katz & Mello
2000). There is evidence that lacustrine source
rocks, responsible for 90% of the oil produced in
Brazil and Angola (Mello et al. 1991; Schiefelbein
et al. 1999; Katz & Mello 2000) were deposited
between approximately 130 and 115 Ma, when the
South Atlantic palaeodepositional conditions were
almost the same in the conjugate margin basins
(Coward et al. 1999; Seranne & Anka 2005).
The rift phases are represented by prolific source
rock systems, ranging from lacustrine freshwater
to saline sag basin and culminating with deposition in a shallow transitional marine environment
(Cainelli & Mohriak 1999). Most of these rift and
sag basins record maximum transgression events
with an onlap surface followed by an overall

regressive package representing the subsequent

infilling of the basin (Contreras et al. 2010).
The basins from Argentina to southern Brazil
(Fig. 1) are characterized by rift troughs overlain
by marine sediments with no evidence for evaporites, and this is also the case for the conjugate
margin basins (Orange, Luderitz and Walvis)
located south of the Walvis Ridge (Fig. 1). The
basins north of the Rio Grande RiseWalvis Ridge
(Santos, Campos and Esprito Santo in Brazil;
Benguela, Kwanza, Congo and Gabon in Africa)
are characterized by extensive salt deposition in
the Late Aptian (Karner 2000; Mohriak 2001;
Davison et al. 2007). A maximum transgression
event, developed during the AlbianCenomanian
times, established a marine restricted environment
with a prolific source rock system, constituting an
important source rock system in the Congo Basin,
in West Africa (Cole et al. 2000), but also developing local source rock pods in other segments of the
South Atlantic margins.
One of the main topics of this paper is the geochemical correlation between oil and oil-extracted
samples recovered from the rift and drift reservoirs
from southern Brazilian and West African offshore
basins based on molecular and isotopic tools.

From: Mohriak, W. U., Danforth, A., Post, P. J., Brown, D. E., Tari, G. C., Nemcok, M. & Sinha, S. T. (eds) 2012.
Conjugate Divergent Margins. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 369,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1144/SP369.18 # The Geological Society of London 2012. Publishing disclaimer:
www.geolsoc.org.uk/pub_ethics

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
10.1144/SP369.18
M. R. MELLO ET AL.

Fig. 1. Regional map of the southern South Atlantic sedimentary basins, with bathymetry and main tectonic elements.
The location of the Serra Geral volcanics from the Palaeozoic Parana Basin (onshore Brazil) and the Etendeka volcanics
(onshore Namibia), as well as the volcanic wedges offshore the conjugate margins (SE BrazilNamibia), are indicated
in black. The main bathymetric contours (in km) are also shown. SPP, Sao Paulo Plateau; ES, Esprito Santo; FZ,
fracture zone. Modified from Gladczenko et al. (1998).

Geochemical analyses from the Neocomian Aptian

and Albian Cenomanian source rock systems from
the Greater Campos Basin (which includes the main
salt basins in SE Brazil, from Esprito Santo to
Santos) show a strong correlation with oils and oil
extracts recovered from wells drilled in the Walvis
and Orange basins, offshore Namibia. Such data suggest the occurrence of similar petroleum systems
in both Brazilian and West Africa margins, and
allow the differentiation between two important
source rock systems: (i) Neocomian Aptian shallow
brackishsaline water systems; and (ii) Albian
Cenomanian deep marine restricted system.
The successive intermittent marine incursions,
within the Neocomian Aptian shallow brackish
saline water systems, caused expansions and contractions of the water bodies, variations in the
water column salinity, and, hence, the transition
from a lacustrine fresh to a lacustrine saline and,
finally, to a marine hypersaline water depositional
environment, whose desiccation resulted in the
deposition of the extensive evaporites by the Late
Aptian, particularly in the Santos Basin, where
massive stratified evaporites occur in the deep-water
region (Karner & Gamboa 2007).
The variations of water level in the lacustrine and
restricted marine water bodies, owing to climatic
fluctuations, played an important role in the source
and reservoir facies deposition and diagenetic processes. The compartmentalization of the basin into
intra-basinal highs and lows also favoured the

development of anoxic conditions in the lacustrine

and marine restricted systems, therefore affecting
the thickness, distribution and quality of the
source rock. Our results indicate that source and
reservoir facies deposition from the Neocomian to
the Early Aptian in the Namibian basins show similarities to those of the Santos Basin (Fig. 2), where
pre-salt Aptian Neocomian sedimentary successions are recognized below the massive stratified
evaporites. In the past there were questions about
the quality of the source rocks and reservoir facies
in the southern Santos Basin because of concerns
over the influence of Early Cretaceous magmatism
in the Santos and Pelotas basins, with lava flows
and related igneous intrusions and volcaniclastic
rocks having formed during the rift phase
(Mohriak 2003). Several authors even suggested
that volcanic layers might constitute most of the
pre-salt sequence in the deep-water region of the
Santos Basin, with no syn-rift continental lacustrine
deposits in the Sao Paulo Plateau (e.g. Kumar &
Gamboa 1979).
The evaluation of temperature and maturation
data of exploratory wells by means of petroleum
system modelling technology on both sides of the
Atlantic indicate that heat flow history is different across the Santos and the Namibian basins
(Gallagher & Brown 1999). The different heat
flow histories have impacted timing, volumes and
composition of the oil- and gas-prone areas on
both sides of the South Atlantic (Lentini et al. 2010).

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
10.1144/SP369.18
PETROLEUM SYSTEM CORRELATION

Fig. 2. Regional map of the southern South Atlantic (geographical co-ordinates), with the location of the main
structures in the SE Brazilian region. The well 1-ESS-130-ES (Catua Field) is located in the Esprito Santo Basin, near
the Vitoria Colatina lineament, which extends from onshore to offshore. The location of the seismic sections
Mexilhao Tupi (SS, near borehole RJS-628) and Pelotas Basin (PS, near boreholes SCS-2 and BPS-07) are indicated as
yellow lines. AR, Abimael Ridge; BA, Buenos Aires; CFFZ, Cabo Frio Fault Zone; FFZ, Florianopolis Fracture Zone;
PAFZ, Porto Alegre Fracture Zone; RJ, Rio de Janeiro; RJFZ, Rio de Janeiro Fracture Zone; SCL, Southern Cross
Lineament; SEH, Santos External High; VCL, Vitoria Colatina Lineament; VTR, Vitoria Trindade Ridge. Purple
line, volcanic basement limit (Mohriak 2001); white continuous line, Leplac crustal limit; blue dashed line, crustal limit
(Karner 2000).

Geochemical and geological data evaluated in

this study allowed a petroleum system analysis for
the pre-salt or equivalent successions, in terms of
their source and reservoir depositional sequences,
using petroleum fingerprinting. Rifting and the tectonic processes that culminated with the break-up
of the Gondwana were responsible for the key
elements of a mega-petroleum system in the South
Atlantic Brazilian and West African basins. These
geochemical analyses of oil samples recovered
from Brazilian and Namibian offshore wells were
undertaken to assess to what extent the two petroleum systems might be similar. The ultimate aim
was to assess the possibility that a new frontier for
petroleum exploration might exist offshore Namibia, containing giant oil and gas reserves charged
from lacustrine and marine source rock systems.

Geological and geophysical correlation

of the conjugate margins
The tectonosedimentary evolution of the southern
Brazilian (Fig. 3) and Namibian margins (Fig. 2)

include a pre-rift phase with Palaeozoic sediments

that are related to the PalaeozoicKaroo sedimentary basins (Tankard et al. 1995), a syn-rift phase
that includes siliciclastic and carbonate rocks
dated as Neocomian Aptian (Light et al. 1992), a
transition phase with Late Aptian evaporites north
of the Florianopolis (Rio Grande) Fracture Zone
Walvis Ridge, and a transgressive regressive
marine phase that developed from Albian to Recent
in the conjugate margins (Jungslager 1999).
A regional geoseismic profile in the Santos
Basin, from the platform towards the deep-water
region (Fig. 4), illustrates some of the main characteristics of the Greater Campos Basin, with hydrocarbon accumulations located both in post-salt
turbidite reservoirs (e.g. Mexilhao Field, in the
region of the Cabo Frio Fault Zone) and in pre-salt
reservoirs (e.g. the Tupi discovery, located in the
outermost high of the basin, underlain by massive
stratified evaporites: Carminatti et al. 2008).
The Pelotas Basin, south of the Florianopolis Fracture Zone, is characterized by a thick
post-break-up sedimentary succession with no
evaporites in the transition from the continental

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
10.1144/SP369.18
M. R. MELLO ET AL.

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
10.1144/SP369.18
PETROLEUM SYSTEM CORRELATION

Fig. 4. Regional geological section (A B on inset map, SS in Fig. 3) extending from the platform towards the outer
high in the deep-water region of the Santos Basin, where the Tupi giant discovery found pre-salt reservoirs sourced by
lacustrine shales.

environment to the marine environment (Dias et al.

1994; Mohriak 2003; Bueno et al. 2007; Contreras
et al. 2010). The sedimentary succession in the basin
includes volcanic rocks penetrated in a few boreholes in the platform, and Cretaceous Quaternary
sequences that extend towards the oceanic crust
(Fig. 5). Regional seismic profiles indicate the presence of seaward-dipping reflector (SDR) wedges
forming a volcanic substratum in the deep-water
extension of the basin (Fig. 6). Although no boreholes have penetrated these features beyond the
shelf break, exploratory wells in the platform suggest that the southern Brazilian margin is highly volcanic and was characterized by the presence of
a thermal anomaly in the mantle during the early
stages of oceanic crust formation, which resulted
in the formation of thick wedges of volcanic rocks
(Gladczenko et al. 1997, 1998; Abreu 1998; Talwani
& Abreu 2000). A thick Cretaceous Tertiary sedimentary overburden, which may exceed 6 km in
basin depocentres, suggests that postulated source
rocks might be mature in the deep-water region.
The few boreholes in the basin are mostly located
in the platform and did not penetrate Early Cretaceous source rocks, but a few boreholes in deep
waters indicated the presence of Tertiary sandstone
turbidite reservoirs.

The region from southern Angola to Namibia is

also a frontier region for petroleum exploration,
with fewer than 20 boreholes drilled in an area
that is larger than the Greater Campos Basin. The
Kunene-1 borehole, drilled in the Namibe Basin
in southern Angola, penetrated siliciclastic sediments overlying a structural high located close to
volcanic intrusions and seamounts associated with
the Walvis Ridge (Fig. 2). There are a few ODP
(Ocean Drilling Program) and exploratory boreholes on the Walvis Ridge and in the Walvis
Basin, but with no commercial discovery up to the
present.
The Luderitz Basin in southern Namibia has
also been tested by few exploration wells, and the
Kudu gas and condensate accumulation, located
on the border between the Luderitz and the Orange
basins, constitutes the most important discovery in
Namibia and South Africa, with proved reserves
of around 1.3 Tcf (trillion cubic feet) and potential
reserves estimated to reach up to 3 Tcf of gas in
Barremian sandstones that are intercalated with
volcanic layers.
A regional seismic profile in the region north of
the Kudu discovery (Fig. 7) illustrates the tectonic
style of the Luderitz Basin, which is clearly marked
in the platform by syn-rift structures developed

Fig. 3. Regional satellite image (top) and topobathymetric map (bottom) of southern Africa. The Kunene-1 borehole is
located in the Namibe Basin, north of the Walvis Ridge. The seismic profile SS-1 and the boreholes in the Kudu area of
the Luderitz Basin are located near the border between Namibia and South Africa.

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
10.1144/SP369.18
M. R. MELLO ET AL.

Fig. 5. Regional geoseismic profile from the platform towards the deep-water region of the Pelotas Basin (PS in Fig. 3),
showing the main stratigraphic sequences and the SDR wedges in the ultra-deep-water region (modified from Abreu 1998).

Fig. 6. Regional seismic profile from the platform towards the deep-water region of the Pelotas Basin (basinwards
extension of PS in Fig. 3) (modified from Mohriak 2003).

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
10.1144/SP369.18
PETROLEUM SYSTEM CORRELATION

Fig. 7. Regional seismic profile (SS-1 in Fig. 2) from the platform towards the deep-water region of the Luderitz Basin,
north of the Kudu gas field. The borehole 2814/07-2ST-1 penetrated Barremian and probably Neocomian sediments at
the total depth of 5290 m, without reaching volcanics.

during the NeocomianBarremian and a sag basin

developed in the BarremianAptian (Light et al.
1992). Borehole 2814/07-2ST-1 was drilled in the
platform and penetrated a thick Late Cretaceous
siliciclastic succession and also Early Cretaceous
rocks (BarremianNeocomian) without reaching
igneous rocks, interpreted as volcanic basement.
Basinwards of the shelf break, the classical wedges
of SDRs are imaged in the seismic profiles, but a
thick AptianBarremian sag to rift trough is
observed near the outer high in the basin.
A regional geoseismic transect near the Kudu
discovery (Fig. 8) also indicates the presence of a
thick syn-rift trough landwards of the field. Seismic data suggest that the syn-rift sequence is overlain by Barremian Aptian strata, which are less
affected by extensional faults and correspond to a
sag basin, where source rocks have been penetrated
by a number of boreholes (Schmidt 2004). The
region basinwards of the Kudu discovery shows
the rift sag basin, in which source rocks and reservoirs are predicted, and the deep-water region is
characterized by SDR wedges (Fig. 9), which are
probably related to volcanic sequences formed
during the early stages of the oceanic crust development (Gladczenko et al. 1998).
The sag basin offshore Namibia shows many
characteristics that resemble the sag basin in the Brazilian margin, with subhorizontal strata overlying

volcanic highs in deep water, and a marked unconformity between the dipping horizons and the
sedimentary succession, as observed in the Tupi
discovery, which penetrated carbonate rocks in the
Aptian sag basin and sediments with volcanic rocks
in the Barremian Neocomian syn-rift sequence
(Henry et al. 2009).
The main difference is that the Aptian succession offshore Namibia is not covered by an evaporite sequence that is characteristic of the Greater
Campos Basin. We discuss here the similarities
that may occur in the sedimentary environments
below the Aptian unconformity, suggesting that
both basins, although marked by different tectonic
elements during their development, shared a common environmental and depositional source rock
system during the extensional phase that predated
the inception of oceanic crust.

Geochemical characterization of the

hydrocarbons from the Kudu Field using
biomarker, carbon isotope, diamondoid,
CSIA-D and CSIA-B technologies
In the absence of wells that have penetrated the
Lower Cretaceous source rocks in the offshore
Namibian basins, detailed molecular geochemistry

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
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M. R. MELLO ET AL.

Fig. 8. Composite geoseismic section in the Orange Basin, where the Kudu gas and condensate field was discovered in
AptianBarremian siliciclastic reservoirs.

technologies using biomarker and diamondoid

high-resolution geochemistry techniques (HRGT)
were applied to the condensate samples taken from
the Kudu 4, 4B and Kudu 5 wells (Fig. 10). These
analyses were critical to determining the identity
of the source rock systems in offshore Namibia.
The results of the HRGT analyses enabled the
characterization of lacustrine and marine oil types in
Namibia, and their correlation with their counterparts
from across the southern South Atlantic basins, in
Brazil. The geochemical approach applied in the
Kudu hydrocarbon samples was mainly based on
the distribution and concentration of biological
markers and diamondoids, and their carbon isotope
composition, in order to assess the age, palaeoenvironment of deposition and the extent of thermal cracking (Moldowan et al. 1985, 1990, 2001; Mello et al.
1988a, b; 1995, 2000, 2011; Mello & Maxwell
1991; Holba et al. 1998, 2003; Peters & Moldowan
1993; Dahl et al. 1999; Mello & Katz 2000; Stolhofen
et al. 2000; Wei et al. 2007; Sassen & Post 2008;
Rodriguez Monreal et al. 2009).
Age and palaeoenvironment of deposition-related
biomarkers are characterized by compounds, whose
occurrence in oils and source rock extracts are restricted to certain depositional environments, and
some also are specific to certain geological time periods. The identification of the age-related biomarkers
is achieved by using gas chromatographymass

spectrometrymass spectrometry (GCMSMS)

techniques.
The application of the specific biomarkers, diamondoids and specific carbon isotope analysis of
diamondoids (CSIA-D) and biomarkers (CSIA-B)
has allowed the identification of different oil
types, their origin to be characterized, and also an
estimate to be made of the age and depositional
environment of their source rock systems (Peters
& Moldowan 1993; Dahl et al. 1999; Mello et al.
2000, 2011; Mello & Katz 2000; Wei et al. 2007;
Sassen & Post 2008). Also, the application of
these geochemical tools is extremely important for
determining the presence of active petroleum systems in sedimentary basins. Furthermore, it has a
profound impact on exploration strategies in frontier
regions where source rocks have not been sampled,
as in offshore Namibia (Peters & Moldowan 1993;
Dahl et al. 1999; Mello et al. 2000, 2011; Mello &
Katz 2000).
Quantitative analyses of sterane biomarkers and
diamondoids of Kudu samples presented low concentration of C29 steranes (e.g. up to 3.5 ppm of
C29 total steranes in the Kudu 5 sample) and extremely high concentrations of diamondoids (up to
360 ppm of 3- and 4-methyldiamantanes in the
Kudu 4 and 4B samples: Fig. 11). According to
diamondoid data obtained for many oil samples
from the eastern Brazilian marginal basins, the

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
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PETROLEUM SYSTEM CORRELATION

Fig. 9. Regional seismic profile in the Luderitz Basin (CD in Fig. 8), with the location of the Kudu discovery well.
(Top) Uninterpreted profile; (bottom) with an interpretation showing the SDRs interpreted as volcanic wedges that
post-date the rift sequence.

diamondoid baseline is 5 ppm (HRT geochemical

database). Therefore, based on a baseline of 5 ppm,
the high values of 3- and 4-methyldiamantanes of
the Kudu samples analysed in this study are indicative of highly cracked condensates (i.e. 9598.5%:
Fig. 11) (Dahl et al. 1999; Wei et al. 2007; Sassen
& Post 2008; Rodriguez Monreal et al. 2009).

However, the presence of up to 4 ppm of C29

steranes, in the Kudu 5 sample, with around 95%
cracked stage, imply that this samples is a mixture
of two different fluids: a highly cracked condensate
(i.e. up to 95% cracked) mixed with a less-mature
non-cracked condensate (i.e. up to 4 ppm of biomarker: Fig. 11) (Dahl et al. 1999; Mello et al. 2000).

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
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M. R. MELLO ET AL.

Fig. 10. Location map of the Namibe, Walvis and Luderitz basins, with exploratory blocks and ODP boreholes. The
Kunene-1 borehole is located north of the Walvis Ridge, in the Namibe Basin. Exploratory block 1911 is located south
of the Walvis Ridge, west of the Etenka volcanics, which outcrop onshore, near the coastline. The exploratory boreholes
2815/15-01 and Sidetrack, Kudu 4, 4B and 5, which are discussed in this work, are located near the Kudu gas and
condensate field.

95 99% diamondoid cracking results, if converted to vitrinite reflectance (% Ro) give values
greater than 2% Ro for the source of these cracked
samples, implying a very deeply buried source
rock system in the Orange Basin (Dahl et al. 1999;
Mello et al. 2000; Wei et al. 2007).
In order to identify the origin of the highly
cracked condensates that represent more than 95%
of the Kudu samples, compound specific isotope
analysis of the diamondoids (CSIA-D) was performed (Dahl et al. 1999; Mello et al. 2000, 2011;
Mello & Katz 2000; Wei et al. 2007; Sassen &
Post 2008). The diamondoid isotope composition
of the condensates from the Kudu Field illustrated
in Figure 12 shows a good correlation with the oil
recovered in the 1-ESS-130-ES well, drilled in the
Esprito Santo, Basin, and considered to be mixed
oil with lacustrine and marine contribution (HRT
database). In contrast, the Kudu samples show a
poor correlation with the marine derived oils from

the Santos Basin (e.g. 3CRV-1-BSS and 1-PRS-4:

HRT database).
Figure 13 shows CSIA-D data for the Kudu
samples compared with lacustrine oils derived
from Aptian Barremian source rocks from the
Santos and Campos basins (HRT database). The
similarity of the data suggests that diamondoids of
the Kudu condensate have been generated in a
similar AptianNeocomian lacustrine saline source
rock system to that which must also occur on the
Namibian margin. The per-mil range offsets of the
isotope curves of these lacustrine oils (Fig. 13),
and in fact, the offset between the curves for Kudu
4 and Kudu 5, could be in response to facies
differences among the lacustrine source rocks for
these oils.
The oil sample from the well 1-ESS-130-ES is
cracked and represents a typical mixed oil. Where
a highly cracked fluid is mixed with less mature
fluids of a different source, most of the diamondoid

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
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PETROLEUM SYSTEM CORRELATION

Fig. 11. Biomarker and diamondoid data showing the extent of oil cracking and the presence of mixed hydrocarbons in
the Kudu samples. As can be observed, the samples suggest a highly cracked stage (oil cracking .95%), mixed with less
mature non-cracked oil (e.g. Kudu 5 sample).

isomers come from a highly cracked source and the

CSIA-D isotopic profile reflects the highly cracked
source rather than the less mature fluid. Some of
these samples have mixed contributions of diamondoids from both the marine and lacustrine
sources, but with a predominance of lacustrine
fluids. These would have intermediate CSIA-D profiles between pure lacustrine and marine oils.
Among all the oils with marine biomarkers, the
mixed lacustrine marine oil from the 1-ESS-130
well shows a better correlation with the condensate
samples from the Kudu 4 and 5 wells in the CSIA-D
profile data (Fig. 12).
In summary, the integration of quantitative
diamondoid analysis and the CSIA-D (diamondoids) data suggest that the Kudu condensates are
mixed oils that possibly were derived from at
least two different source rocks: Albian Cenomanian marine source rock in the oil window; and
a volumetrically dominant contribution from a
highly mature source rock associated with the
lacustrine rift petroleum system present in the
Orange Basin. In addition, CSIA-D results from
the condensate samples recovered from Kudu
Field in Namibia are compared with oil samples
sourced by Lower Cretaceous marine and lacustrine
sources in Brazil.

Geochemical characterization of extracted

oils recovered from the wells 2815/15-01
and Sidetrack-2815/15-01 (east of the
Kudu Field) using biomarkers
compounds
A number of reservoir core and cutting samples
were selected from six wells from the Luderitz,
Walvis Bay and Orange basins, in offshore Namibia
(Fig. 10). The samples were analysed using gas
chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography
mass spectrometer (GCMS) to identify biological
markers of the migrated oils extracted from the
samples. The biomarkers were critical for assessing
oil types present in the basins, and also to predict
their source rock depositional environment and
thermal evolution (Figs 10 & 1416).
Figure 14 shows a number of selected extracted
oil samples that presented high concentrations of
migrated oils in the 2815/15-01 and the 2815/
15-01 Sidetrack wells, close to the Kudu Field
(see Fig. 10). The figure also shows gammacerane/C30 hopane and hopane/sterane ratios v. depth
for most of the well samples recovered, and the fingerprints of the whole oil gas chromatogram and
mass fragmentograms (GCMS) of the hopanes

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
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M. R. MELLO ET AL.

Fig. 12. Carbon isotope values of diamondoid components present in the condensate samples of Kudu 4 and Kudu 5
wells, compared with marine anoxic and mixed oil recovered from wells in the Santos and Esprito Santo basins,
offshore Brazil.

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
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PETROLEUM SYSTEM CORRELATION

Fig. 13. Carbon isotope values of diamondoid compounds present in condensate samples from Kudu Field and Campos
Basin lacustrine oils. As can be observed, the condensate samples from the Kudu 4 and Kudu 5 wells show a good
correlation with Brazilian oils derived from AptianBarremian lacustrine saline source rocks.

(m/z 191) and diasteranes (m/z 259) biomarkers

from four selected sample intervals.
The hopane/steranes and gammacerane/C30
hopane data v. depth (Fig. 14) suggest the presence of two distinct oil types among all of the
samples analysed (i.e. compare samples around
2500 m with the samples deeper than 3000 m).
This is clearly demonstrated when biomarker
data such as normal paraffins and b-carotane (GC
fingerprint), terpanes (m/z 191 mass chromatograms)
and diasteranes (m/z 259 mass chromatograms)
are compared (Fig. 14) (Mello 1988; Mello et al.
1988a, b, 1991, 2000; Schiefelbein et al. 1999).
The migrated oils analysed at 1400 and 2470 m
from the 2815/15-01 well present low hopane/steranes and gammacerane/ C30 hopane ratios associated with high C27 diasteranes/TPP (tetracyclic
polyprenoids) ratios. The TPP were identified by
Holba et al. (2003), who also observed that
lacustrine-derived oil, in the South Atlantic Realm,
contains a very high abundance of TPP relative to
C27 diasteranes (Schiefelbein et al. 1999).
The biomarker ratios present in the samples shallower than 2500 m (i.e. samples from 1400 and

2470 m: Fig. 14) are comparable to the Albian

Cenomanian marine oil type present in the Campos
and Santos basins, offshore Brazil (Mello 1988;
Mello et al. 1988a, b, 1991, 2000; Schiefelbein
et al. 2000). By contrast, the migrated oils that
occur deeper than 3000 m, in the 2815/15-01 Sidetrack well, such as at 3140 and 4110 m, are examples of lacustrine saline oils, commonly found in
the Campos and Santos basins, as suggested by the
occurrence of high hopanes/steranes and gammacerane/C30 hopanes ratios associated with low
diasteranes/TPP ratios (Fig. 14) (Mello 1988;
Mello et al. 1988a, b, 1993, 2000; Peters & Moldowan 1993; Schiefelbein et al. 1999; Holba et al.
2003).
b-carotane is present in the GC traces of the
migrated oil analysed at 4110 m (Fig. 14). This
compound has been reported from oils and oil
extracts from lacustrine saline Neocomian source
rocks from the Campos Basin (Mello 1988; Mello
et al. 1988a, b, 1993). Another compound that
suggests the lacustrine character for the deeper
samples is the high abundance of gammacerane
relative to C30 hopane. High abundances of

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
10.1144/SP369.18
M. R. MELLO ET AL.

Fig. 14. Gammacerane/C30 hopane and hopane/sterane ratios v. depth in the wells 2815/15-01 and 2815/15-01
Sidetrack, together with GC, m/z 191 and m/z 217 mass chromatograms of selected extracted samples.

Fig. 15. Cross-plot of C29 steranes 20S/20S+R ratio against depth (m) and the m/z 217 mass chromatograms (GC
MS) of some samples taken at several depths from the well Kudu-4.

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
10.1144/SP369.18
PETROLEUM SYSTEM CORRELATION

gammacerane are a key lacustrine diagnostic parameter in the characterization of lacustrine-derived

oils in the Santos and Campos basins, as well as in
the conjugate margins (sample 4110 m from Fig. 14)
(Mello 1988; Mello et al. 1988a, b, 1993, 2000).
Regarding thermal evolution assessment of the
oil extracts, the GC traces from the migrated oils analysed at 1400 and 2470 m (Fig. 14) suggest a high
thermal evolution stage of generation (Mello 1988;
Peters & Moldowan 1993). With increased maturity,
high molecular weight n-alkanes and biomarkers are
thermally degraded, thus increasing the proportion
of lighter n-alkanes and decreasing the biomarker
concentrations (Mello 1988; Peters & Moldowan
1993). The GC traces from the 1400 and 2470 m
samples present a profile with a predominance of
light n-alkanes, indicating therefore a high maturity

stage. However, the migrated oils analysed at 3140

and 4110 m from the Sidetrack well (Fig. 14) show
a bimodal whole oil profile that is typical of a mixture of two different oil types; such as a mixture of
a marine crude oil with a predominance of lighter
n-alkanes (i.e. high thermal evolution) with a lacustrine saline, less mature oil, with a predominance of
high molecular weight n-alkanes and biomarkers
(Mello 1988; Peters & Moldowan 1993).
Figure 15 illustrates the GC MS distribution of
C29 steranes detected in the less mature noncracked condensate portion of the Kudu 4 sample.
The C29 steranes maturity parameter 20S/20S +
20R, with values up to 38%, indicate a close to peak
stage of thermal evolution for the less mature condensate fluid present in the Kudu 4 mixture (Mello
1988; Peters & Moldowan 1993; Wei et al. 2007;

Fig. 16. Cross-plot of hopane/sterane index v. diasteranes/TPP index from the saturate fractions of extracts of the
2815/15-01 and 2815/15-01 Sidetrack wells compared with lacustrine and marine oil data from Santos, Campos and
Esprito Santo basins. Note the presence of two oil systems in the plot. The lacustrine oils are characterized by low
diasteranes/TPP ratios together with high hopane/sterane ratios, and the marine oils are characterized by a low hopane/
sterane index and higher diasteranes/TPP ratios.

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
10.1144/SP369.18
M. R. MELLO ET AL.

Sassen & Post 2008). Also, their relative isomer

distribution suggests a good correlation with oils
derived from Albian Cenomanian marine source
rocks from the Greater Campos Basin in Brazil
(Mello 1988; Mello et al. 1988a, b).
Figure 16 shows a cross-plot of biomarker ratios,
diagnostic of assessment of the depositional environment (Mello 1988; Katz & Mello 2000; Mello
et al. 2011) that has been used successfully for characterizing and differentiating lacustrine and marine
oil and source rock types in several basins around
the world. The plot presented in Figure 16 compares
the migrated oils samples taken from the 2815/
15-01 and 2815/15-01 Sidetrack wells with a
number of marine Albian Cenomanian and Lower
Cretaceous lacustrine saline oils from Campos,
Santos and Esprito Santo basins, including the oil
from the supergiant Tupi Field, in Offshore Brazil.
As can be noted, there is a good correlation among
the migrated oils from the 2815/15-01 and 2815/
15-01 Sidetrack wells with the Brazilian marine
anoxic and lacustrine oils, suggesting that they share
a similar origin (Fig. 16).
In summary, the integration of biological marker
data from extracted oils recovered from the reservoir rocks from the 2815/15-01 and 2815/15-01
Sidetrack wells offshore Namibia, when compared
with marine and lacustrine saline oils from offshore
Brazil, suggested that two oil systems might be
present in the southern South Atlantic:
AlbianCenomanian marine (!) petroleum
system this system is present in the Campos,
Santos and Esprito Santo basins offshore
Brazil, and in their African conjugate Kwanza
and Congo basins offshore Angola;
AptianBarremian lacustrine saline (!) petroleum system this system is also present in
the Campos, Esprito Santo and Santos basins
in Brazil, and in the conjugate Congo and
Kwanza basins in Angola. In Brazil and
Angola such a system is overcharged and represents more than 40 billion barrels (bbl) of
hydrocarbon reserves (Mello et al. 2011).

Conclusions
A multidisciplinary approach, focusing on the
nature and distribution of hydrocarbon fluids,
places the discovered hydrocarbons of the Kudu
Field, offshore Namibia, in an interpretative framework that provides a potential road map for future
hydrocarbon exploration, focusing on the Albian
Cenomanian and Aptian Barremian source rock
systems in offshore Namibia.
The geological and geochemical data from the
Greater Campos and Namibian basins reveal a
general similarity between the Brazilian and West

African southern marginal basins (Mello et al.

1991, 2011; Katz & Mello 2000). This similarity
reflects a comparable source rock depositional
environment and, consequently, oil systems. Asymmetric rifting has, however, resulted in different
sedimentary and subsidence histories that have, in
turn, resulted in major differences in the distribution
of light oil v. gas and condensates, and also in different reservoir depths along the margins. The syn-rift
successions are, for example, deeper in the Brazilian
marginal basins when compared with the West
African margin (Mello et al. 1991). However,
Albian Cenomanian mature marine source rock
systems are widely recognized in several basins in
West Africa, particularly in Gabon, Congo and
Angola (Mello & Katz 2000).
The SE Brazilian margin is characterized by
oils derived from lacustrine source rocks, with
only a minor contribution from Albian Cenomanian marine sources rocks (Mello et al. 1988a, b,
1993). Although marine organic-rich sediments
are present in the Campos Basin, their overburden
is insufficient for large-scale generation. In contrast,
adequate overburden is, at least locally, present
along the Namibian margin, resulting in light oil
and gas generation from marine source rocks, as
observed in part of the Kudu Field.
Consequently, when comparing the petroleum
systems present around the South Atlantic Realm
as possible exploration analogues for underexplored
regions, account must be taken of source rock
presence and source rock maturity. The results
presented here provide strong evidence for the presence of at least two active petroleum systems in
Namibia, with their respective pods of hydrocarbon
generation located deep offshore. The biomarker
fingerprints of the migrated oils present in the sedimentary sections of the 2815/15-01 and the 2815/
15-01 Sidetrack wells and the geochemical data of
the Kudu 4 and Kudu 5 wells are similar to those
that have sourced more than 90% of the oil produced in the Brazilian and Angolan marginal basins.
In summary, the petroleum system concept,
applied in this study using state-of-the-art geochemical
analysis technology, suggests that the Namibian offshore basins can be considered a new frontier for
exploration. On the basis of the analogies drawn here
with basins north of the Walvis RidgeRio Grande
Fracture Zone, the Namibian source rock systems
are similar to those that have sourced more than 90%
of the oil discovered in the Brazilian and Angolan
marginal basins and might be large enough to charge
giant to supergiant oil and gas accumulations.
We thank several geoscientists from IPEX and HRT who
collaborated in the analyses and interpretations of the oil
samples from the Brazilian and West African margins.
We are grateful to many colleagues from HRT and other

Geological Society, London, Special Publications published online August 22, 2012 as doi:
10.1144/SP369.18
PETROLEUM SYSTEM CORRELATION
petroleum companies who participated in several technical
meetings and workshops discussing the similarities and
differences between conjugate margins in the South Atlantic. We are also indebted to reviewers R. Crossley and
B. Katz for many constructive comments and criticisms
that improved this work.

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