Total Basinal Area : 3134700 sq.

km

Foreland & Thrust

belt

Ridge Controlled
Basins

Western fringes of the Bengal Basin were a part of

Gondwana Land during Permo-Carboniferous
and Early Jurassic time
Gondwana sedimentation was terminated by
Rajmahals
All over the Bengal Basin Rajmahal Basalt is present
during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous
Sedimentation in these troughs was initially glaciofluvial (Talchir) followed by mainly fluviolacustrine environment essentially in a warm and
humid climate
Earliest marine transgression reached the northern
and western fringes of the larger Bengal Basin

Well locations and formation stratotypes of West Bengal Basin

 Sedimentation took place essentially in a narrow

marginal continental margin with slow rate of
subsidence
Depositional regime was terminated by the
development of wide carbonate shelf by late
Eocene
Probably a regression took place in the Late Eocene,
characterized by marine shale and sand
A second major cycle of essentially clastic
deposition commenced in the Early Miocene and
continued up to the Middle Miocene
Active subsidence with balanced supply of clastics
gave rise to the Pandua and Matla formations
Deltaic deposits gave rise to Debagram formation

Stratigraphic units of West Bengal Basin

Petroleum Prospect
Positive indications are plenty
Several commercial gas pools in the Sylhet region of
Bangladesh: Deltaic (Lower Miocene)
No surface indication of HC in the Western part of
Bengal Basin
Subsurface oil and gas indications in Tertiary
sediments have been recorded from many wells
drilled so far in Bengal Basin
Most significant of these shows are from Miocene
rocks penetrated in Port Canning and Bodra
wells
Some gas has also been recovered from off-shore
wells
Asphalt was found in the Bardhaman well within
Jalangi formation

Source Rocks
There is an enormous volume of fine clastics of both marine
and paralic facies deposited in Bengal Basin from
Cretaceous to Recent
In the area, east of Eocene hinge zone, the Ghatal (Cretaceous),
Kopili (Eocene), Memari (Oligocene to Lower Miocene) and
Pandua (Miocene) formations form excellent source rock
facies
Organic geochemical studies in the two off-shore and some of
the land wells are not encouraging as the OC content in
general are low
Reasonably good OC content (0.4 0.5 %) have been reported
from certain restricted sections in Paleogene from
Diamond Harbour and Radha wells
OM are mostly humic, although better quality types (sapropelic)
have also been reported
Detailed subsidence cum maturation profiles have not yet been
drawn up

Reservoir Rocks
Sst. and Siltst. are the most expected reservoir
rocks, although reef Lst. and calcarenites may
be expected
Reservoir facies is present in almost all the
sequences present in West Bengal ranging in
from Cretaceous to Plio-Pliestocene

also
age

Cap Rocks
Main cap rocks in the Bengal Basin are the clays and
shale present throughout the Cretaceous to PlioPleistocene sequences
Impermeable and compact calcareous facies may
also act as local cap rocks particularly in the
Eocene sequence

Traps
Though Gravity and photogeomorphological studies have
brought out several structural highs, seismic surveys have not
confirmed the presence of similar structural features in
the
overlying sediments
Tertiary sequence in Bengal Basin is essentially homoclinal,
interrupted by minor faults, terrace like features in the
platform and by moderately active growth faults in basin
deep
Faults provide local updip closures
Most of wells so far drilled in this Basin are on fault closures or
doubtfully identified stratigraphic features
West Bengal Basin does exhibit major trends of stratigraphic
features which can act as very good stratigraphic traps
These include Mesozoic wedging associated with paleo hinge
lines, carbonate build up in the area west of the Eocene
hinge zone, clastic bars along margins of paleo-delta,
channel-levee complexes, etc.

Cretaceous-Paleocene Stratigraphic correlation in the subsurface of

West Bengal Basin