Total petroleum systems of the Grand Erg/Ahnet Province, Algeria and Morocco; the Tanezzuft-Timimoun, Tanezzuft-Ahnet, Tanezzuft-Sbaa, Tanezzuft Mouydir, Tanezzuft-Benoud, and Tanezzuft-Bechar/Abadla

Undiscovered, conventional oil and gas resources were
assessed within total petroleum systems of the Grand Erg/Ahnet
Province (2058) as part of the U.S. Geological Survey World
Petroleum Assessment 2000. The majority of the Grand Erg/
Ahnet Province is in western Algeria; a very small portion
extends into Morocco. The province includes the Timimoun
Basin, Ahnet Basin, Sbaa Basin, Mouydir Basin, Benoud
Trough, Bechar/Abadla Basin(s), and part of the Oued Mya
Basin. Although several petroleum systems may exist within
each of these basins, only seven ?composite? total petroleum
systems were identified. Each total petroleum system occurs in
a separate basin, and each comprises a single assessment unit.
The main source rocks are the Silurian Tanezzuft Formation
(or lateral equivalents) and Middle to Upper Devonian mudstone.
Maturation history and the major migration pathways
from source to reservoir are unique to each basin. The total
petroleum systems were named after the oldest major source
rock and the basin in which it resides.
The estimated means of the undiscovered conventional
petroleum volumes in total petroleum systems of the Grand Erg/
Ahnet Province are as follows:
[MMBO, million barrels of oil; BCFG, billion cubic feet of gas; MMBNGL, million
barrels of natural gas liquids]
Total Petroleum System MMBO BCFG MMBNGL
Tanezzuft-Timimoun 31 1,128 56
Tanezzuft-Ahnet 34 2,973 149
Tanezzuft-Sbaa 162 645 11
Tanezzuft-Mouydir 12 292 14
Tanezzuft-Benoud 72 2,541 125
Tanezzuft-Bechar/Abadla 16 441 22