Journal of Petroleum Geology, Vol.14, No.1, pp. 5-18, 1991

©Copyright 2000 Scientific Press, Ltd.

PETROLEUM GEOLOGY OF THE MAKRAN REGION: IMPLICATIONS FOR HYDROCARBON OCCURRENCE IN COOL BASINS

M. A. Khan*, Hilal A. Raza** and Shaji Alam**

* Former Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Government of Pakistan. present address: Hawaii lnstitute of Geophysics University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA.

** Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Abstract

Six basinal elements have been recognized in the Baluchistan Basin on the basis of plate-tectonic considerations. The Makran forms part of the southernmost coastal "accretionary forearc basin", where a more than six-kms thick, relatively undeformed succession of neritic sediment overlies the turbidites. A reported oil seepage in the north, several gas seepages along the coast, abundant "bright spots" in the seismic profiles offshore, and the occurrence of hydrocarbons in similar geologic settings elsewhere, all support the recently-emerging impression amongst the petroleum geologists involved in the area that the Makran region may provide a uniquely instructive setting in which to study petroleum occurrence in cool basin environments.