Petroleum GeoscienceBasin Analysis and Rift Basin Exploration
Many of Africa's more recent oil discoveries lie in continental rifts, from the Albertine Graben in Uganda to the Lokichar Basin in Kenya and the Muglad Basin in Sudan, and those basins behave very differently from passive margins. Delegates begin with lithospheric stretching models, subsidence analysis and backstripping, then study rift architecture: half grabens, accommodation zones, transfer faults and the syn rift to post rift transition. Lacustrine source rocks, fan deltas and footwall derived sands are linked to that architecture. Heat flow and burial history modelling are used to estimate maturity through time. The final sessions cover basin modelling outputs and play mapping in under explored rifts. Delegates leave able to reconstruct a basin's subsidence and thermal history and target rift plays with reason.
Course objectives
- Explain lithospheric stretching models and their subsidence predictions
- Perform backstripping and subsidence analysis on well data
- Interpret half graben architecture, accommodation zones and transfer faults
- Relate lacustrine source rocks and rift reservoirs to tectonic stage
- Model burial, heat flow and thermal history through time
- Interpret one dimensional and two dimensional basin model outputs
- Map rift play fairways in frontier and under explored basins
Who should attend
- Basin analysts and exploration geologists
- Petroleum agency geoscientists promoting acreage
- Geochemists and basin modellers
- Structural geologists working rift settings
- New venture teams screening African basins
Course outline
- 01Basin types and plate tectonic setting
- 02Stretching models and subsidence
- 03Backstripping and burial history
- 04Rift architecture and fault linkage
- 05Syn rift and post rift sedimentation
- 06Lacustrine source rocks
- 07Heat flow and thermal modelling
- 08Basin modelling workflows
- 09Rift play assessment
Scheduled sessions
| Dates | Venue | Format | Price | Register |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 to 16 October 2026 | Kampala, Uganda | Classroom | USD 1,325 per delegate | |
| 7 to 11 December 2026 | Windhoek, Namibia | Classroom | R19,950 per delegate | |
| 21 to 25 December 2026 | Online | Online | R8,500 per delegate | |
| 8 to 12 February 2027 | Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | Classroom | USD 1,325 per delegate | |
| 1 to 5 March 2027 | Durban, South Africa | Classroom | R19,950 per delegate |
Basin Analysis and Rift Basin Exploration
From R8,500