Eritrea

Hydrocarbon Potential Of The Eritrean Red Sea
and Exploration Opportunity

By
Mohammedberhan Abdulkadir
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Official Name The state of Eritrea
Area 123,300sq.km. Including around 350 islands
Location Horn of Africa.
Sea Coast 1000km. coast line along the Red Sea
Population Approximately 4 Million
Capital Asmara
Port Towns Massawa and Assab
Currency Eritrean Nakfa (ERN)
Climate Varies with altitude :
 Temperate central highlands plateau;
 hot and Humid Eastern lowlands; and
 hot and Arid Western low lands.
Time zone GMT + 3
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Geological Summary of the Eritrean Red Sea
Tectonic Evolution:
- Major Rifting in the Red Sea began about 25 - 30 Ma

(Mid to Late Oligocene)
- Rifting was Transtensional and involved block faulting

with both normal and strike-slip faults, which generally
trend NW-SE to NNW-SSE.
- By the Late Miocene - Early Pliocene, about 5 Ma ago,

the small pull-apart basin developed oceanic crust.
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2.2- STRATIGRAPHY AND SEDIMENTATION:
• Post-rift units: deposited after

major rifting had ceased outside the
axial trough.
• Syn-rift units: deposited during

the major rifting of the Red Sea.
•Pre-rift units: deposited before the

major rifting.
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HYDROCARBON POTENTIAL OF THE ERITREAN
RED SEA
• Conclusive proof for the existence of

hydrocarbon generating system :-
- Oil and Gas seep on and around Dahlac Island;
- Oil impregnated sands on Defnein Island and
the Red Sea coastline; and
- Oil and Gas shows in the wells.
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HYDROCARBON POTENTIAL OF THE ERITREAN
RED SEA
• The 55-day blowout of well C-1 occurred at

9865´ is the most important occurrence in the
Eritrean Red Sea.
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PETROLEUM SYSTEM OF THE ERITREAN RED SEA
• Source rock
- Recent wells encountered alternating layers of salt

and shales which are high quality source rocks
within the post-rift sediments (Desset Formation).
- Resultsof rock eval analysis revealed several organic

rich horizons in a number of offshore Eritrean wells
in both syn-rift Habab and Amber Formations ( fair
to good TOC).
- Pre-rift potential source rocks include the Late

Jurassic organic rich shales and marls of the Antalo
Limestone and Agula shale.
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•Maturity:
 Geothermal gradient varies from

2.56 °C/ 100m in Du Rig Rig #1
well to 6.18 °C/ 100m in well
Secca-Fawn.
 Regionally, geothermal gradient
shows a tendency to increase from
the Red Sea rift margins to the
Axial Trough.
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• Reservoir
Post-rift:
 The transgressive Desset Formation contains continental sediments
near its base. They have good interpreted porosity.
Syn-rift:
 Potential syn-rift reservoirs occur both in the pre-salt Habab and
Dogali Formations and in the salt-bearing Amber Formation.
Pre-rift:
 fluvial sandstones of Cretaceous Amba Aradom sandstone.
 fluvio-deltaic to shallow marine sanstones of Jurassic Adigrat
sandstone,
 fluvio-glacial sandstones of Paleozoic Enticho sandstone,
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• Seal
- For pre-rift reservoirs Agula shale, the Upper Habab

(silt and shales) and where the pre-rift succession
has been intensively eroded the Upper Miocene
evaporites can be good seals.
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• Seal (continued)
- Amber salt can provide good seal for the underlying

Habab and intra-salt sand lens reservoirs.
- Upper Desset Formation could serve as seal for
Upper Amber and Lower Desset Formations.
- The reef buildups in the Dhunishub Formation are
also important seals.
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• Trap Types
- Tilted fault blocks, rotated fault blocks, horsts and
compactional drape are the most likely traps in both
the pre-rift and syn-rift pre-salt units.
- Structures related to the salt tectonics such as rollover
anticlines, ramp anticlines, stratigraphic pinchouts,
turtlebacks, salt diapirs and salt canopies or pillows
prevalent in the salt basin are principal style traps for
the post-rift units.
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Schematic cross-section showing play types of the Eritrean Red Sea. 15

5- SUMMARY OF PETROLEUM EXPLORATION
HISTORY IN THE ERITREN RED SEA
• The Eritrean Red Sea aroused hydrocarbon interest

because of the long known oil seeps on the coast near
Massawa and offshore close to the islands of the Dahlac
Archipelago.
• The hydrocarbon exploration history of the Eritrean Red

Sea goes as far back as early 1920´s when the Italian
firm, SOCIETA MINERARIA DEL AFRICA
ORIENTALE, undertook the drilling of a well to few
hundred meters depth.
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5- SUMMARY OF PETROLEUM EXPLORATION
HISTORY IN THE ERITREN RED SEA
 To date the following exploration activities were

carried out over the 125,000 km2 area of the Eritrean
Red Sea:
- 11 deep and 11 shallow wells were drilled;
- More than 40,000 line km 2D seismic data had been
acquired;
- Considerable portion of the Eritrean Red Sea had
been covered with gravity and Magnetic surveys.
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6- Major Provisions of Model Production
Sharing Contract
1- Terms of the Contract
The Contract Term consists of :-
- Exploration Period: up to 4 years with up to 4 years

extension.
- Development and production Period: up to 25 years

with up to 10 years extension.
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Sharing Contract
2- Work Program
Minimum work program and expenditure obligations for each

exploration period are negotiable.
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Sharing Contract
3 - Profit Oil Split

- Negotiable, set on sliding scale calculated in calendar
quarter on cumulative basis.
4- Cost recovery
- Negotiable, sliding scale of daily production.
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Sharing Contract
5- Royalty
- Negotiable, sliding scale of daily production.
6- Income Tax
- Thirty-five percent (35%).
7- Gas Provisions
- Good faith negotiations on gas discovery.
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Sharing Contract
8- Customs
A Contractor is entitled to import machinery and equipment

necessary in operations, free of import duties, taxes, and imposts
of any kind.
9- Export
A contractor is entitled to export petroleum produced free of
export duties, taxes or imposts of any kind.
10- Foreign Exchange Control:

A Contractor can retain or dispose any funds out side Eritrea.
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Sharing Contract
11- Stabilization Clauses and application Laws:
- The contract shall be construed under, governed by and interpreted

in accordance with the laws of the State of Eritrea as of the
effective Date.
- Economic benefit to be adjusted if affected by promulgation of

new laws and/or regulations of Eritrea.
- The capital expenditures of the Contractor as reflected in any

facilities, discovered reserves, property, shall not be nationalized
or confiscated, attached, seized, frozen, expropriated, or put under
custody with out due process of law.
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Sharing Contract
12- Resolution of Dispute:

Any dispute, to the extent possible, will be resolved through
negotiations. In the event the dispute is not settled through
negotiations, it will be settled through binding arbitration.
13- Assignment:
A Contractor can assign all or any part of his rights and interests
to any technically and financially capable other person with the
written consent of the Minister.
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Map showing constitution of blocks in Eritrea.
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HYDROCARBON EXPLORATION OPPORTUNITIES
IN THE ERITREAN RED SEA
Towards this end, The Ministry of Energy and

Mines has announced an invitation to all interested
International Oil Companies to apply for a
Production Sharing Contract on near and offshore
acreage in Eritrea.
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A NEW COUNTRY OF
ENORMOUS OPPORTUNITIES
AND
PROMISING FUTURE
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Hydrocarbon Potential Of The Eritrean Red Sea

and Exploration Opportunity

- Major Rifting in the Red Sea began about 25 - 30 Ma

- Rifting was Transtensional and involved block faulting

- By the Late Miocene - Early Pliocene, about 5 Ma ago,

• Post-rift units: deposited after

• Syn-rift units: deposited during

•Pre-rift units: deposited before the

• Conclusive proof for the existence of

• The 55-day blowout of well C-1 occurred at

- Recent wells encountered alternating layers of salt

- Resultsof rock eval analysis revealed several organic

- Pre-rift potential source rocks include the Late

 Geothermal gradient varies from

- For pre-rift reservoirs Agula shale, the Upper Habab

- Amber salt can provide good seal for the underlying

Schematic cross-section showing play types of the Eritrean Red Sea. 15

• The Eritrean Red Sea aroused hydrocarbon interest

• The hydrocarbon exploration history of the Eritrean Red

 To date the following exploration activities were

1- Terms of the Contract

The Contract Term consists of :-

- Exploration Period: up to 4 years with up to 4 years

- Development and production Period: up to 25 years

Minimum work program and expenditure obligations for each

3 - Profit Oil Split

A Contractor is entitled to import machinery and equipment

10- Foreign Exchange Control:

11- Stabilization Clauses and application Laws:

- The contract shall be construed under, governed by and interpreted

- Economic benefit to be adjusted if affected by promulgation of

- The capital expenditures of the Contractor as reflected in any

12- Resolution of Dispute:

Towards this end, The Ministry of Energy and

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