Petroleum Potential of the Amu Dar'ya Province,Western Uzbekistan and Eastern Turkmenistan

The Amu Dar'ya gas-oil province coincides with a Mesozoic and Cenozoic sag basin that developed on an intermontane depression filled largely by Permian-Triassic redbeds and volcanics. The stratigraphic section of the basin is divided into two parts by an extensive evaporite deposit of Kimmeridgian age. The section below the evaporite consists of Lower-Middle Jurassic clastic rocks overlain by reef-bearing carbonate rocks of Callovian and Oxfordian age. The upper Jurassic and Cretaceous-Paleogene section consists largely of clastic rocks. Structurally the province is a mosaic of highs and lows controlled by basement faults. The Kimmeridgian evaporite is a regional seal for numerous pools in the Callovian- Oxfordian carbonate rocks. In the border areas of the province where the evaporite is not present, the hydrocarbons have migrated farther upward to collect in Lower Cretaceous traps. Prospects for further discovery are excellent in most parts of the province, but are particularly favorable in carbonate reef buildups in the southeastern part of the province.