Tectonic and Sedimentary Factors Controlling the Petroleum System of the Murzuk Basin, Libya

S037 TECTONIC AND SEDIMENTARY FACTORS CONTROLLING THE PETROLEUM SYSTEM OF THE MURZUK BASIN LIBYA Introduction 1 The Murzuk Basin lies some 800 km south of Tripoli and covers an area of about 350 000 km 2 . More than ninety exploratory wells have been drilled so far leading to the discovery of 21 commercial oil fields among which are the giant fields A-NC115 (“Sharara” Repsol operated) and F-NC174 (“Elephant” ENI operated). The primary petroleum play consists of the Upper Ordovician reservoir sandstones (Memouniat Fm. and part of the underlying Haouaz Fm.) and of the Lower Silurian shales (Tanezzuft Fm.) the