Abstract

The growing global need for oil and gas is making deepwater regions increasingly important in exploration strategies around the world. India’s current hydrocarbon exploration framework increasingly prioritizes deepwater provinces, given their untapped potential and alignment with long-term energy security objectives. However, these regions present complex geological uncertainties. Key concerns include the presence and effectiveness of essential thermogenic petroleum system elements such as the presence and maturity of source rocks, reservoir quality, and seal effectiveness. Biogenic sources may also be present in these settings, our understanding of their distribution and behavior remains limited. This study presents a 2D petroleum system model of the Palar offshore region, situated between the Krishna-Godavari and Cauvery offshore basins along the Eastern Continental Margin of India (ECMI). The modeling assesses the effectiveness of thermogenic and biogenic source rocks, alongside the spatial distribution of reservoirs, sealing capacity, and key hydrocarbon migration and accumulation processes across oceanic and continental crustal boundaries (COB).