Sedimentation, stratigraphy,

and petroleum potential of

Krishna-Godavari basin,
East Coast of India

AUTHOR
G. N. Rao Oil and Natural Gas
Corporation, India, EXCOM Section SRBC,
X(W) CMDA Towers, 8 Gandhi-Irwin Road,
Egmore, Chennai-600 008, India;
ganti_n@yahoo.com

G. N. Rao

ABSTRACT
The Krishna-Godavari basin is located in the central part of the
eastern passive continental margin of India. The structural grain of
the basin is northeast-southwest. Exposures of Upper Cretaceous
sedimentary rocks demarcate the basin margin toward the northwest, where the northwest-southeasttrending Pranahita-Godavari
graben abuts the basin. The basin contains thick sequences of sediments with several cycles of deposition ranging in age from Late
Carboniferous to Holocene. A major delta with a thick, argillaceous
facies that has prograded seaward since the Late Cretaceous is a
hydrocarbon exploration target.
Magnetic and gravity data predicted the basin architecture,
which was subsequently conrmed by a multichannel seismic survey. The basin is divided into subbasins by fault-controlled ridges.
Sediments accumulated in subbasins more than 5 km thick. Above
the basement ridges, thin sediments are found. Until the Jurassic
period, sediments were deposited in the rift valley and in topographic lows. This sequence is completely overlain by a Lower Cretaceous, transgressive sedimentary wedge. Later, continued delta
progradation characterized basin sedimentation.
With an areal extent of approximately 45,000 km2, this proven
petroliferous basin has potential reservoirs ranging in age from the
Permian to the Pliocene. Exploratory drilling of more than 350
wells in more than 160 structures has resulted in the discovery of
42 oil and gas bearing structures. Good source rocks are known
from sequences ranging in age from PermianCarboniferous to early
Miocene. Because the reservoir sand bodies have limited lateral
variation, understanding the stratigraphy and depositional subenvironments in different sequences is essential to decipher the favorable locales for reservoir sands. Tilted fault blocks, growth faults,
and related rollover anticlines provide the structural traps.

Copyright 2001. The American Association of Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
Manuscript received June 3, 1997; revised manuscript received May 19, 1998; nal acceptance November
9, 2000.

AAPG Bulletin, v. 85, no. 9 (September 2001), pp. 16231643

1623

G. N. Rao works as deputy general manager

(geology) at Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
(ONGC), India. He received his M.Sc. (tech.)
degree in applied geology in 1975 and Ph.D.
in 1994 from Andhra University. He studied at
the Indian School of Mines for an M.Tech.
degree in petroleum exploration during 1984.
He has experience in analyzing hydrocarbon
prospectivity in all the eastern divergent
margin basins of India. His interests include
global tectonics in relation to basin evolution
for petroleum exploration and genesis of
abnormal formation pressures. Rao has
associated with Soviet specialists in assessing
the hydrocarbon resources of India and with
the Institute Francais du Petrole Paris team for
thrust-pach modeling for fold belts of the
northeastern convergent margin of India.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I thank ONGC Ltd. for providing the data and
permitting to publish the same. I also thank
S. N. Talukdar, former member (exploration),
and P. K. Chandra, former vice-chairman of
ONGC, for critically reviewing the manuscript.
The guidance provided by K. Satyanarayana
of ONGC and C. Kasipathi of Andhra University and help from James Peters of ONGC in
shaping the work is gratefully acknowledged. I
thank the AAPG reviewers Bob Reynolds, Ben
Law, and Mauren Wan for their constructive
criticism of the manuscript. Thanks to Firoz
Dhotiwala of Kesava Deva Malvya Institute of
Petroleum Exploration for providing expert
technical help in presenting the Landsat images. Finally I wish to express my deep sense
of gratitude to A. W. Balley of Rice University,
Houston, Texas, for his encouragement and
valuable guidance in reshaping the text.

INTRODUCTION
The Krishna-Godavari basin, a pericratonic basin, is located along the East Coast of the Indian peninsula. It
includes the deltaic plains of the Krishna and Godavari
rivers and the interdeltaic regions. Geographically, the
basin lies between Kakinada in the northeast and Ongole in the southwest. Archean crystalline basement
and Upper Cretaceous sedimentary outcrops demarcate the northwest basin margin. The basin extends
southeast into the deep water of the Bay of Bengal. A
signicant part of the onshore basinal area is covered
by Quarternary alluvium (Figure 1).
Geologists in the Geological Survey of India such
as Blandford et al. (1856) and King (1881) were the
rst to study outcrops in the Krishna-Godavari basinmargin area. Later, Vasudeva Rao and Krishna Rao
(1977) described these outcrops in detail and interpreted tectonic settings and depositional environments
for the basin. Murty and Ramakrishna (1980) used
geophysics to describe the subsurface geology. Venkatarangan and Ray (1993) recognized exploration targets and the petroleum system in the basin. Scientists
from the National Institute of Oceanography (Murty
et al., 1995) studied the geodynamic aspects of the offshore Krishna-Godavari basin and identied the offshore extension of the northwest-southeasttrending
pre-Cretaceous rift graben along the cross-trends. I also

Figure 1. Location map of the

study area, Krishna-Godavari
basin. To the northwest the
sedimentary exposures include
(1) Lower TriassicUpper Permian Chintalapudi Sandstone;
(2) Lower CretaceousUpper
Jurassic Gollapalli and Budavada sandstones; (3) Lower
Cretaceous Raghavapuram and
Vemavaram shales; (4) Upper
Cretaceous Tirupati Sandstone;
(5) Deccan traps with Upper
Cretaceouslower Paleocene intertrappean beds; (6) Miocene
Pliocene Rajahmundry
Sandstone.
1624

Petroleum Potential of Krishna-Godavari Basin

contributed to previous hydrocarbon exploration efforts, summarizing the geological evolution of the basin, proposing depositional models for hydrocarbon
reservoirs (Rao, 1991), and formulating a new lithostratigraphic nomenclature for the area (Rao, 1993a,
b, c).
In this article I interpret the depositional system of
the Krishna-Godavari basin within a sequence stratigraphic framework. The basic data for this study include lithologic and electric logs of deep wells, seismic
sections, and analyses of sedimentologic features in
conventional cores and in basin-margin outcrops.

METHODS OF STUDY
Outcrops were examined for detailed lithofacies variations, deposition cycles, and sedimentary structures.
Conventional cores were examined for sedimentary
structures to identify depositional processes. Crossplots of core data (Visher, 1969) were used to differentiate depositional environments. Depositional patterns were presented in the form of isopach maps.
Where conventional cores were absent, interpretations
were made on the basis of logs obtained from 26 wells,
which were designated names from the English alphabet (A to Z). As a whole, the wells cover the entire
basin, and a few penetrate down into the Archean

basement. To understand the depositional environment, good quality seismic sections were tied to the
well data. Age markers identied in samples of the
deep wells were calibrated using lithomarkers identied in the time sections. This method allowed for the
accurate identication of depositional patterns within
the marked sequences.

REGIONAL GEOLOGICAL SETTING

Plate Tectonic Model
The basin was a major intracratonic rift within Gondwanaland until the Early Jurassic. When Gondwanaland rifted apart, the eastern margin of the Indian peninsula was positioned at latitude 50 S and was oriented
in an east-west direction (Chatterjee and Hotton,

1986). Since the Cretaceous, the Indian plate has

moved northward, and the eastern continental passive
margin rotated 20 in a counterclockwise direction
(Gordon et al., 1990) until it collided with Eurasia in
the late Eocene (Srivastava and Chowhan, 1987). The
triple junction between the Indian peninsula, Australia, and Antarctica is located at Masulipatnam Bay (Figure 1) (Thompson, 1976). The northwest-southeast
trending Pranahita-Godavari graben (Figure 2) formed
a failed arm of the triple junction (Burke and Dewey,
1973).
Since the Cretaceous, the basin has become a pericratonic basin. Its thick, uvial sediment load was associated with the faulting of basement blocks due to
the reactivation of northeast-southwesttrending Precambrian faults (Biswas, 1992). These differential vertical block movements allowed magma to rise through
and facilitated emplacement of the Deccan traps.

Figure 2. Bouguer gravity map of the Krishna-Godavari basin, showing tectonic elements (Shenoi and Rao, 1982). KB Krishna
subbasin, BH Bapatla horst, WG West Godavari subbasin, EG East Godavari subbasin, PG Pranahita-Godavari graben,
CCT Chintalapudi cross-trend, PCT Pithapuram cross-trend, KT Kommugudem trough, KKT Kakinada terrace, DH
Draksharama high, EH Endamuru high, TH Tanuku high, MT Mandapeta trough, KAHT Krishna Amalapuram high trend,
MPFZ Matsyapuri-Palakollu fault zone.
Rao

1625

During the Tertiary, the deltaic system generally prograded to the southeast, although some deltaic lobes
have shifted in direction in response to changing rates
of sediment inux and growth faulting (Rangaraju,
1987).
Basin Architecture
Based on Bouguer gravity data, Murty and Ramakrishna (1980) have identied three subbasins separated
by two basement horsts. From the southwest, these are
the Krishna, West Godavari, and East Godavari subbasins separated by the Bapatla and Tanuku horsts, respectively (Figure 2). The West Godavari subbasin is
further subdivided into the Gudivada and Bantumilli
grabens, which are separated by the Kaza-Kaikaluru
horst (Kumar, 1983) (Figure 3). The Kommugudem
and Mandapeta troughs are situated on either side of
the Tanuku horst (Figure 2).

The Krishna subbasin contains 1560 m of Cretaceous and older sediments above the Archean basement. Bapatla horst lies between the Krishna and the
West Godavari subbasins. Many lower Mesozoic sequences are thin over the Bapatla horst and lie disconformably with erosional contact, which suggests that
the Bapatla horst was uplifted during the Cretaceous.
The Bapatla horst is discontinuous in the northeastern
part of the basin.
In the West Godavari subbasin, Cretaceous sediments are thin over the Kaza-Kaikaluru horst, compared to the thick section on either side of the horst in
the Bantumilli and Gudivada grabens (Figure 4a, c).
The data suggest that the Kaza-Kaikaluru horst remained uplifted during the Early Cretaceous. Tanuku
horst lies between the West Godavari and East Godavari subbasins. The sedimentary cover over the Tanuku horst is about 2500 m in the southeastern ank
of the horst and increases to 3500 m in the southwest.

Figure 3. Tectonic map of the Krishna-Godavari basin with deep wells considered for this study using seismic sections, litholog
correlations, and electrolog proles. Subsurface tectonic elements: BNTG Bantumilli graben, GDVG Gudivada graben, MPFZ
Matsyapuri-Palakollu fault zone, KAHT Krishna Amalapuram high trend, BTH Bantumilli high, KKH Kaza-Kaikaluru high.
Single letters are well names.
1626

Petroleum Potential of Krishna-Godavari Basin

This trend may indicate that the horst plunges southwesterly into Masulipatnam Bay. In contrast, Lower
Cretaceous strata dip monoclinally toward the southeast over the Tanuku horst, suggesting the absence of
any tectonic uplift of the horst since the Cretaceous.
Deep drilling to the southeast of the Tanuku horst has
documented the presence of a thick sand-shale sequence with coal beds, characteristic of the Barakar
Formation of the Carboniferous to Permian.
In the East Godavari subbasin, the sedimentary ll
ranges from 2900 m over the preexisting basement
horsts, to more than 5000 m in the deep basin area
in the southeast (Prabhakar and Zutshi, 1993). The
2000 m of argillaceous sediments of the Cretaceous
in the southeast might have been excessive enough to
enhance tectonic subsidence and down-faulting of sequences and form a series of en echelon faults in the
East Godavari subbasin during the Late Cretaceous
early Paleocene (Figure 4b). Subsidence in the southeastern parts of the East Godavari subbasin may have
also contributed to the formation of a steep step-fault
zone in early Paleocene basalts. This fault zone is
known as the Matsyapuri-Palakollu fault zone
(MPFZ). Tectonic readjustment has resulted in terraces and tilted fault blocks in the northeastern area
of the basin.
The discontinuity of the Bapatla horst in the
northeastern part of the basin is associated with the
presence of a northwesterly orientation of gravity
contours and strongly negative gravity anomalies.
This suggests the possible continuation of the northwest-southeasttrending Pranahita-Godavari graben
beneath the northeast-southwesttrending KrishnaGodavari basin. The bounding faults of the Pranahita-Godavari Gondwana graben are known by the
extents of the older sedimentary outcrops in the basin margin area. These fault trends can be traced up
to the Tanuku horst, based on available seismic data.
These northwest-southeasttrending bounding faults
of the earlier rift valley are termed the Chintalapudi
and Pithapuram cross-trends in the northeast-southwesttrending Krishna-Godavari basin (Figure 2).
Based on offshore magnetic data, these cross-trends
can be identied up to the deep-water area of the
Krishna-Godavari basin, and the ocean-continent
boundary (OCB) was marked accordingly (Murty et
al., 1995). The OCB denes the southeastern termination of the northwest-southeasttrending Pranahita-Godavari graben (Figure 3).
Both the Kommugudem and Mandapeta troughs
are deep pre-Callovian downwarps (Figure 2). In

these troughs, Upper CarboniferousLower Triassic

sediments were deposited in varied depositional environments ranging from glacial to marginal marine
conditions. The two troughs can be differentiated in
that the Mandapeta trough experienced Late Jurassic
Cretaceous downwarping, but the Kommugudem
trough did not.

SEDIMENTATION
Outcrop Stratigraphy
Lower PermianUpper Carboniferous outcrops exist
farther to the northwest, within the PranahitaGodavari graben. They include the Talchir beds comprising greenish sand-shale alternations, which are
overlain by the Barakar Formation with its characteristic coal-sand-shale sequences (Raiverman et al.,
1986). Outcrops in the basin margin area of the
Krishna-Godavari basin include the Permian Chintalapudi Sandstone, which consists of cross-bedded,
loosely cemented, variegated shales (Figure 5). The
Chintalapudi Sandstone is overlain by the Maleris Formation, a red arenaceous facies (Lakshminarayana and
Murty, 1990).
Cretaceous outcrops in the northeastern margin
of the basin include the Gollapalli Sandstone, Raghavapuram Shale, and Tirupati Sandstone. Equivalent outcrops in the southwestern margin are the
Budavada Sandstone, the Vemavaram Shale, and the
Pavaluru Sandstone, respectively (Figure 1). The
Gollapalli sandstones are ferruginous and micaceous,
with a paleocurrent direction of 1020 to the
northwest (Vasudeva Rao and Krishna Rao, 1977).
The Raghavapuram shales are mainly white, buff,
and lilac clays, underlain by ne-grained sandstones.
Abundant Lower Cretaceous plant fossils are found
in the Raghavapuram Shale (Bhalla, 1967; Radhakrishna, 1977). The Tirupati sandstones are feldspathic toward the top and ferruginous toward the
bottom. Lenticular clay beds, petried wood, and
cross-bedding characterize the sandstone, which has
a paleocurrent direction of 510 dip toward the
southeast.
Basalt lava ows with Upper Cretaceouslower
Paleocene intertrappean beds are overlain by the
MiocenePliocene Rajahmundry Sandstone. The Rajahmundry Sandstone is red, feldspathic, ferruginous,
laterized, cross-bedded, and conglomeratic and directly overlies the Deccan basalts (Figure 5).
Rao

1627

Figure 4. Litholog correlations of drilled wells in the Krishna-Godavari basin. Single letters are well names. (a) Southwest-northeast
prole in strike direction of the basin showing sediment ll in subbasins and basement horst blocks. (b) Northwest-southeasttrending
dip prole across East Godavari subbasin with thick pre-Cretaceous sediments toward the northwest and a thick Tertiary section
toward the southeast of the MPFZ. Continued.
1628

Petroleum Potential of Krishna-Godavari Basin

Figure 4. Continued.
(c) Northwest-southeast
trending dip prole across West
Godavari subbasin with thick
argillaceous Tertiary sediments
toward the southeast of the
MPFZ.

ROCK STRATIGRAPHIC NOMENCLATURE

Lithomarkers and Age Boundaries
Wherever faunal age details were not available, litholog
variations were considered to differentiate the formation boundaries. Distinctive lithomarkers in the subsurface of the basin include the Archean basement,
pre-Cretaceous red bed, lower Paleocene basalts, and
middle Eocene limestone. These lithomarkers, as observed in well data, were tabulated (Table 1).
The Archean basement consists of mainly gneisses
and granites. Locally named the Khondalites, the Archean basement gneiss is composed of quartz, mica,
feldspar, and garnet. Locally named the Charnockites,
the Archean granite consists of quartz, feldspar, biotite, and hypersthene. Within the uvial preCretaceous section, the presence of thick coal beds,
along with sand-shale sequences, characterizes the
PermianCarboniferous strata underlying the homogeneous PermianTriassic feldspathic sandstone. Faunal data, along with the red bed, delineate marine Cretaceous sequences from pre-Cretaceous nonmarine
sections. Detailed paleontology of cuttings established
the age of basalt ows including intertrap sediments as

ranging from 68 to 61 Ma (Raju et al., 1994). Govindan (1980) identied the PaleoceneEocene boundary,
and Vijayalakshmi (1988) used faunal studies to demarcate the base of the Miocene boundary. A prominent transgressive clay bed is chosen as a lithostratigraphic marker to demarcate the top of the Miocene.
Although rock stratigraphic nomenclature is used
in outcrop descriptions as illustrated in Figure 5, the
subsurface data generated from the exploratory drilling
needed codication. Lithofacies variations in wells are
referred by geological age and lithology. The comprehensive rock stratigraphic nomenclature, as I suggested
(G. N. Rao, 1990, unpublished data) for the major lithofacies variations drilled in the subsurface, follows the
guidelines provided by the North American Stratigraphic Code (1983). The lithofacies variations of a
given geological time, that is, the proximal arenaceous
and basinal argillaceous sequences, were classied separately. The suggested rock stratigraphic nomenclature
with subsequent minor modications (R. Venkatarangan et al., 1993, unpublished data) is shown in Figure 6.
The pre-Cretaceous Chintalapudi Sandstone is a
recognizable, distinct unit in outcrop. In the subsurface, however, identifying the Chintalapudi Sandstone
Rao

1629

Figure 5. Lithostratigraphic
nomenclature used at the
basin-margin exposures and
tectonic phases and sea level
changes in Krishna-Godavari
basin. See text for descriptions
of seismic sequences.

from seismic data alone is not as easy. Consequently,

different rock stratigraphic nomenclature is suggested
for the Chintalapudi Sandstone, along with the Talchir
and Barakar formations: the three lower Gondwana
lithofacies. Sediments equivalent to the Talchir Formation are found in well C and have been named the
Draksharama Shale. The shale is greenish black and
underlies a coal-sand-shale section. The maximum
thickness of sediments equivalent to the Barakar Formation was found in well A. This facies is named the
Kommugudem Formation and consists of thick coalsand-shale beds. The major arenaceous facies overlying
1630

Petroleum Potential of Krishna-Godavari Basin

the Kommugudem Formation are named the Mandapeta Sandstone, and the type section is in well B. The
arenaceous facies, which has a distinct red claystone
bed, overlies the Mandapeta Sandstone and is discontinuous in the basin. The red claystone bed separating
marine and nonmarine facies in the basin is named the
Red Bed.
In well A, Cretaceous formations are known to
correlate with outcrops. Hence, separate nomenclature
is not suggested for the three subsurface lithofacies of
the Cretaceous. The Tirupati Sandstone, however, laterally changes into a massive claystone toward the

Table 1. Lithostratigraphic Correlation of Wells Considered for the Study

Well Name
Shown in Figures
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Name of
the Structure

Drilled Depth
(m)

Well Bottomed in
(geological age)

Top of Archean
Basement (m)

Top of Basalt
(m)

Top of Limestone
(m)

Kommugudem
Mandapeta
Draksharama
GS-17
Bhimanapalli
Amalapuram
Ravva
Tanuku
Jonnalanka
Pasarlapudi
GS-20
G-5
Palakollu
Razole
Chintalapalli
Mori
GS-19
G-13
Gajulapadu
Kaikaluru
Bantumilli
GS-11
Nimmakurru
Mantripalem
Bobbarlanka
GS-38

4508
4302
3145
4020
3007
4003
3172
3145
3504
3902
2500
3208
4501
4501
4500
3200
2442
4110
3811
1972
3650
4625
3071
2850
4258
3517

Carboniferous
Archean
Archean
Late Cretaceous
Early Paleocene
Late Cretaceous
Early Paleocene
Archean
Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
Early Paleocene
Miocene
Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
Paleocene
Miocene
Paleocene
Pre-Cretaceous
Archean
Archean
Late Cretaceous
Archean
Archean
Archean
Eocene

4246
2892

3047

1935
3575

2980
2720
4187

90
738
966

3000

745
2802
3575

2576
3363
3568

725
965
1484

885
1001

684

2798

1224
1555

1683
1667
1518
1518

southeast part of the MPFZ (Figure 4). In well O, the

thickest section of the claystone was penetrated and is
termed the Chintalapalli Claystone.
Basalt ows with intertrappean beds are named the
Razole Formation. The postbasalt section located in
the northwestern section of the MPFZ is mainly
arenaceous and cannot be subdivided into lithofacies
because of a lack of recognizable marker beds. These
Paleogene arenites are termed the Nimmakuru
Sandstone.
Between the MPFZ and the Krishna Amalapuram
high trend (KAHT) passing through wells F and Z, the
Paleocene and Eocene sections have distinct lithomarkers (Figures 2, 3). The Paleocene section is mainly
shale and is named the Palakollu Shale. The Eocene
section can be divided into a lower silty facies (Pasarlapudi Formation), middle limestones (Bhimanapalli
Limestone), and upper arenites (Matsyapuri Sand-

stone) (Figure 7). Southeast of the KAHT, the Eocene

section is argillaceous and is named the Vadaparru
Shale.
Although the Oligocene sequence is very thin, it
is easily identied and can be used to mark the base of
the Neogene sediments. The Oligocene sequence consists mainly of claystone with limestone and sandstone
beds and is termed the Narasapur Claystone.
The MiocenePliocene section is known as the Rajahmundry Sandstone in outcrops and in the subsurface in the proximal part of the basin. In the distal
subcrop, it changes into a major argillaceous facies with
sandstone beds, from which oil and gas are being produced in the Ravva eld. Hence, it is termed the Ravva
Formation, which is equivalent to the Rajahmundry
Sandstone (Figure 7).
The QuarternaryHolocene alluvial cover in the
continental part of the basin is called the Andhra
Rao

1631

alluvium, and the offshore clay sequence overlying the

Ravva Formation is known as the Godavari clay.

SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY
Using the geological age markers, the sedimentary ll
of the basin was divided into ve sections: preCretaceous, Cretaceous, Paleocene, Eocene, and Miocene and above. To identify depositional styles within
each section, geological age boundaries of lithocolumns
were transferred onto seismic sections (Vail et al.,
1977). Sea level uctuations in the basin, along with
sequence boundaries, are shown in Figure 5.
The pre-Cretaceous section is divisible into two
units: a lower sand-shale sequence with thick coal beds
(PC-I) and an upper sandy unit (PC-II). The Archean
basement forms the base of the lower unit whereas the
top of the unit is an unconformity surface (Figure 8a.).
A red claystone separates the uvial preCretaceous and the marine Cretaceous sections. The
Red Bed is an unconformity and represents the
breakup of Gondwanaland. The strong acoustic impedance in the lower sequence generated strong seismic reections in the coal beds. The divergent reectors indicate the subsidence of the basin oor during
deposition. Because PC-I and PC-II were deposited in
a half graben, the divergence of depositional events
suggests synsedimentary reactivation of a bounding
fault in the graben. The hummocky clinoform reections suggest a uvial origin for the sequences. The
strong, discontinuous, parallel reection patterns
within PC-II indicate stable conditions of the basin
oor during deposition.
The top of the Cretaceous is marked by basalt lava
ows. Well data indicate that the Cretaceous section
consists of bottom sandstone, middle shale, and upper
sand-shale units. These three lithologic units are demarcated as seismic sequences C-I, C-II, and C-III, respectively, to clarify depositional conditions.
The lowest sequence, C-I, is very thin and underlies a thick marine transgressive shale. This is the Gollapalli Sandstone, which was deposited in geomorphic
lows prior to the major transgression in the basin. This
sequence is absent over the Precambrian highs, such as
the Draksharama high toward the northeast part of the
basin and the Kaza-Kaikaluru horst toward the southwest. The data show that these horsts were elevated
during deposition of C-I. Reections within C-I toward
the northwest are either weak or absent, suggesting the
sequence consists of uvial sand. In contrast, in the
1632

Petroleum Potential of Krishna-Godavari Basin

Figure 6. Lithostratigraphic nomenclature of sedimentary sequences penetrated in the basin. Wherever the continuity of the
outcrop lithologic unit with the subsurface could be established,
the same name is retained; otherwise, new rock stratigraphic
nomenclature is suggested.

southeastern part of the basin, reections are strong

and continuous, indicating that C-I may have been deposited in uviomarine conditions.
The top of C-II represents a regressive surface over
which the downlap of the overlying sequence is observed. The reection character is strong and contin-

Figure 7. Structural cross section across the East Godavari subbasin showing thick Tertiary sediments toward the southeast of the
MPFZ as seen in well G in the offshore part of the basin; toward the northwestern basin margin area at well A, thick pre-Cretaceous
sediments were encountered.
uous within the sequence, which indicates marine depositional conditions. The C-II reection pattern is
parallel up to wells B and C, which suggests stable depositional conditions. Farther to the southeast, the divergent C-II pattern is a response to passive margin
subsidence. Nearer to the basin margin area, the C-II
reections are weak or absent, suggesting that the sequence consists of sand that was deposited in marginal
marine conditions. This sequence is equivalent in time
to the Raghavapuram Shale.
C-III represents Upper Cretaceous deposition. In
the northwestern basin margin area, it is a major arenaceous unit; reections are weak or absent, and marginal marine to uvial depositional conditions may
have existed. C-III becomes a thick (more than 2000
m) claystone in the southeastern part of the East Godavari subbasin, where the reection character is
strong and has a divergent pattern, suggestive of synsedimentary subsidence (Figure 8b).
The P seismic sequence represents Paleocene
deposition. The top of the sequence has a strong reection character and is directly below the base of
the Eocene section. The unit is thin and absent in
the northwestern part of the basin, where wells B,
H, T, and W were drilled. The shelf edge is interpreted to be southeast of wells U and H. Strong reections within the P sequence may represent sandshale alternations. Shale diapirism may also be seen
near well F (Figure 8c).
The OligoceneEocene section is represented by
the EO seismic sequence, although the thin Oligocene
sediments (40100 m) could not be identied in seismic sections. The EO sequence onlaps over the Paleocene sequence, suggesting a marine transgression. The
Eocene shelf edge is demarcated southeast of well F.

The divergence reection pattern in the southeastern

part of the basin may be related to passive margin subsidence. The reection-free areas within the carbonate
section indicate possible reefal buildups in the EO sequence. Toward the basin, shale diapirism is observed
in the EO sequence.
An erosional surface marks the top of the
MiocenePliocene (MP) sequence in the offshore part
of the basin. Seismic signatures within the sequence
may indicate channels, growth faults, and rollover
structures of a deltaic system (Rangaraju and Yalamarty, 1984). Reections in the proximal part of the
basin are weak, whereas they are strong and divergent
in the distal part, suggesting a basinal subsidence.

DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS
Pre-Cretaceous
Isopachs of PC-I and PC-II show a maximum thickness
in well A (Figure 9). PC-I and PC-II are two distinct
lithofacies: the lower sand-shale-coal facies and the upper feldspathic sandstone. In well A, PC-I is 2000 m
thick (Rao et al., 1993). In wells drilled outside the
Pranahita-Godavari graben (wells S, X, and Y), PC-II
is absent, and the sandy facies directly overlie the Archean basement. The electrolog patterns suggest
mainly coarsening-upward sands containing some
ning-upward sequences. PC-I and PC-II comprise
nonmarine deposits. Observed log patterns indicate
uvial channels with point bars (Figure 10). To understand depositional environments, granulometric studies of samples taken from conventional cores were
carried out using the methods of Visher (1969) and
Rao

1633

Figure 8. Seismic line across the East Godavari subbasin in parts (see Figure 3 for line location) and geological interpretation.
(a) Northwestern part of Tanuku horst (Kommugudem trough) showing pre-Cretaceous rift ll sedimentation indicating seismic
sequences. (b) Southeastern part of Tanuku horst (Mandapeta trough) showing older rift ll sequences are superimposed with
Cretaceous sequences. (c) Thick Tertiary sequences toward the southeast of the MPFZ.

Figure 9. Isopach map of

pre-Cretaceous sediments of
the Krishna-Godavari basin. The
sequence comprises three distinctive lithologic units: A
lower coal-bearing unit
(Barakar/Kommugudem formations); B middle arenaceous
unit (Chintalapudi/Mandapeta
sandstones); and C upper
red beds that represent a
breakup unconformity. A thick
Paleozoic graben is seen at well
A toward the northwestern part
of Tanuku horst.

Folk and Ward (1957). The core data indicate that

deposition occurred in inland river channels. Petrographically, the sandstones were classied as quartzarenites (Dott, 1964), with a grain composition of more
than 70% quartz, 10% feldspars, and an unspecied
amount of lithic fragments. The matrix is clay rich and
siliceous in places.
Cretaceous
The isopach map of Cretaceous sediments indicates
that the unit is thicker toward the southeast (Figure
11). In outcrop and in the subsurface, Cretaceous sediments can be divided into three distinctive sequences:
C-I is the lower sandy facies, C-II is composed of
mainly shales, and C-III is the upper sandy facies. Electrologs show a coarsening-upward pattern in the lower
sandy unit, a predominantly ning-upward pattern in
the middle shale unit, and both patterns in the upper
sandy unit. Petrographically, the rock types are lithic
arenite, mudstones, and quartzwackes. The matrix is
generally clay rich and micaceous. The dominant clay
minerals are kaolinite and illite. Other minerals in Cretaceous sediments include pyrites, tourmaline, and garnets. Grain-size parameters indicate the deposition of
Cretaceous sediments in low-energy conditions within
a uvial system.
Two prominent basement highs, one at KazaKaikaluru and the other at Draksharama, remained

positive during the Early Cretaceous, resulting in thin

deposition over these highs (Figure 2). This correlates
to the absence of the lower sandy unit (Mohinuddin et
al., 1993). Both seismic sections and electrolog correlations show that a peneplanation surface existed over
paleohighs at the base of the middle argillaceous unit
(Raghavapuram Shale). Crossplots of K2O and F2O3
suggest that the upper sandy unit was deposited in uvial conditions in the proximal part of the basin. The
upper unit laterally becomes argillaceous toward the
southeast under marine depositional conditions.
Paleocene
Basalt forms the basin oor for Paleocene sediments.
The unit is not outcropped anywhere in the basin. In
the subsurface, the P sequence is dominantly sandy up
to the northeast-southwesttrending MPFZ (Figure 3).
In contrast, the P sequence is mainly argillaceous
southeast of the fault zone. Isopach maps indicate a
depocenter in the area of wells O and P (Figure 12).
Electrologs depict a blocky SP log pattern and a predominantly coarsening-upward sequence (Rao et al.,
1996). Statistical parameters derived from granulometric studies indicate a marginal marine depositional
environment. Paleocene sedimentary rocks consist
mainly of quartzwackes. Laths of muscovite, glauconite, secondary calcite, pyrites, and zircons have been
observed. The presence of limestone beds in wells I,
Rao

1635

ditions. Electrolog patterns indicate a coarseningupward sequence. The thick middle limestone may indicate a shelf edge carbonate facies during the middle
Eocene. The granulometric data show that uvial conditions may have existed for the lower argillaceous
unit, and nearshore conditions may have existed for the
upper arenaceous unit. This would indicate that a
transgressive phase occurred in the late Eocene due to
minor uctuations in sea level. In the thin section, the
forams (nummulites) are found to be embedded in micrite, and recystallization of spar is seen. Trace element
analysis shows elevated concentrations of CaO and
MnO, which indicate that marine conditions may have
existed in the area of wells I and E.
The Oligocene sequence is very thin, having a
maximum thickness of 150 m. Sedimentary rocks consist of sandstone, siltstone, claystone, and occasional
limestone. O sequence sediments can be identied by
wavy SP patterns in electrologs. The Oligocene apparently experienced a major regression event associated
with upwarp, as evidenced by thin sedimentation.
Miocene

Figure 10. Electrolog correlation of pre-Cretaceous sequences

(prole location in Figure 3). Lithologic units identied by log
motifs are indicated. At well B, a downthrow of unit 2 is seen,
whereas because of uplift followed by erosion it is absent at
well C (Draksharama high). Older electrofacies 3, 4, and 5 indicate postdepositional uplift of areas around wells A and C.
N, and Z suggests a shelf edge environment during the
Paleocene.
Eocene
Isopachs of the Eocene sequence show a northnortheastsouth-southwestaligned depositional center, where well O has the thickest section (Figure 13).
The depositional center is found to be shifted toward
the northeast compared to the Paleocene depositional
center. The Eocene sequence in the subsurface is a thin
sandy unit near the MPFZ. Between wells M and P in
the East Godavari subbasin, the Eocene sequence is
thicker and can be divided into the lower argillaceous,
middle carbonate, and upper arenaceous units. In the
lower argillaceous unit, thin sands show ripple marks
in the top layers, whereas the lower layers contain
claystone pebbles and exhibit burrowing and channel
lling, which may indicate nearshore depositional con1636

Petroleum Potential of Krishna-Godavari Basin

Isopachs of the Miocene sequence show a depositional center around the Ravva eld offshore (well
G). Another depositional lobe is identied near the
Krishna River mouth (Figure 14). The data suggest
that the Krishna and Godavari rivers were separated
during the Miocene (Satyanarayana et al., 1996).
Thin section petrography indicates that Miocene
sedimentary rocks consist of quartzwackes with glauconite and benthonic/planktonic forams. Electrolog
patterns indicate a coarsening-upward pattern. Trace
element data (Ni/Co) correlated with granulometric
data show that the lower part of the M sequence may
have been deposited in nearshore conditions. In contrast, trace element data suggest that marine conditions existed in the upper part of the M sequence.
This suggests marine transgression occurred sometime during the late Mioceneearly Pliocene.

PETROLEUM POTENTIAL
Hydrocarbon Occurrence
Initial successful hydrocarbon exploration in the
Krishna-Godavari basin was in thin Upper Cretaceous
reservoirs in the Narasapur structure of the East Godavari subbasin. Exploration efforts since 1978 have

Figure 11. Isopach map of

the Cretaceous sequence of the
Krishna-Godavari basin. The sequence uniformly thickens toward the southeast. The unit is
not completely drilled toward
the southeastern part of the basin. Three distinctive lithologic
units are identied: lower arenaceous (Gollapalli Sandstone),
middle argillaceous (Raghavapuram Shale), and upper arenaceous (Tirpupati Sandstone),
which varies to argillaceous facies toward the southeast of the
MPFZ (Chintalapalli Claystone).
Single letters are well names.

Figure 12. Isopach map of

the Paleocene sequence showing a depocenter at well V, Masulipatnam Bay. Up to the
MPFZ the unit is sandy, and toward the southeast it is mainly
argillaceous. Single letters are
well names.

established oil and gas reservoirs ranging in age from

Late Permian to Pliocene (Rao, 1991).
Sikka (1990) used the probabilistic model to estimate the undiscovered hydrocarbon potential of Cretaceous and Tertiary plays in the Krishna-Godavari basin to be 726 million tons. The estimate took into
consideration basin analysis, chance of success of individual plays, risk analysis, and Monte Carlo simulations.

Petroleum System Analysis

By analyzing the hydrocarbon occurrence in the basin
in relation to petroleum system classication, four systems can be identied. They are the KommugudemMandapetaRed Bed, Raghavapuram-Gollapalli-Razole,
Palakollu-Pasarlapudi-Bhimanapalli, and the RavvaGodavari petroleum systems. Locations of oil and gas
Rao

1637

Figure 13. Isopach map of

the Eocene sequence with a
major depocenter at the well P
coastal tracts of the Godavari
river. Also note the shift of the
depocenter toward the northeast, compared to the Paleocene depocenter. Single letters
are well names.

Figure 14. Isopach map of

Miocene and younger sequences. Two distinctive depocenters lie at the mouths of the
Godavari and Krishna rivers.
Single letters are well names.

elds are shown in Figure 15. Geological ages of reservoirs are indicated in Table 2.
The geologically oldest petroleum system is the
pre-Cretaceous Kommugudem-MandapetaRed Bed
(Rao, 1994). This system is conned to the northwestsoutheasttrending rift valley extending beneath the
East Godavari subbasin. The hydrocarbon potential of
the system is estimated to be 330 million tons. The
1638

Petroleum Potential of Krishna-Godavari Basin

source rocks yield mainly gas. The system is associated

with many erosional unconformities. To date, only 20
million tons in reserves have been established. The apparent lack of high-amplitude anticlinal closures and
permeability barriers currently impede new exploration efforts.
The Cretaceous petroleum system is named the
Raghavapuram-Gollapalli-Razole system. In the West

Figure 15. Hydrocarbon

bearing prospects of the
Krishna-Godavari basin. For
geological age of the reservoirs
and eld names refer to
Table 2.

Godavari subbasin, thin sands and limestones within

source facies are reservoirs. In the East Godavari subbasin, lenses of sands in the Chintalapalli Claystone
produce hydrocarbons. Southeast of the MPFZ, the
system was undercompacted during the Eocene. The
petroleum potential has been estimated to be 230 million tons, of which so far only 15 million tons in reserves have been established.
The Paleogene Palakollu-Pasarlapudi-Bhimanapalli petroleum system is the most prolic system in
the Krishna-Godavari basin. Located southeast of the
MPFZ in the East Godavari subbasin, the system contains abnormally pressured source rocks and normally
pressured reservoirs (Rao and Mani, 1993). Anticlinal
closures serve to entrap hydrocarbons. The estimated
hydrocarbon resources are estimated to be 300 million
tons. To date, about 80 million tons in reserves have
been established.
The Neogene petroleum system is called the
Ravva-Godavari System. The most promising area for
commercial hydrocarbon production is offshore. The
abnormally high geothermal gradient has caused lower
Miocene sediments to mature and generate hydrocarbons. The estimated hydrocarbon resources are estimated to be 200 million tons. Nearly 70 million tons
in reserves have been established thus far.

Source Rocks
About 200 m of source rocks were identied in
PermianCarboniferous coal-shale sediments. The
source rock quality ranges from poor in well C to very
good in well B, where the source rock was in the oil
generative window during the Permian and is presently
in the metagenetic stage (Brahmajirao et al., 1991).
The Lower Cretaceous shales are oil prone. This
facies is 800 m thick in well A. Based on the time temperature index (TTI), source rocks in the area around
well B have been capable of generating liquid hydrocarbons since the late Eocene. Upper Cretaceous argillaceous rocks located in the southeastern onshore
basin have also matured to generate gaseous hydrocarbons since the Eocene and are also good source rocks.
Paleocene shales of the East Godavari subbasin
contain dominantly type III kerogen with 23% organic
matter and have fair to good source potential. The level
of maturation is in the early to peak oil phase of generation. Gas and subordinate oil-prone facies have
been identied in Paleocene sediments.
Lower Eocene shales located southeast of well F
contain high organic matter concentrations (TOC 3
4%). Geochemical studies reveal that they are in the
early phases of maturation. The quality of organic
Rao

1639

Table 2. Geological Age of Hydrocarbon Fields in Krishna Godavari Basin

Onland
Geological Age

Oil

Offshore
Gas

Pliocene

Oil

Gas

1. G-1
2. G-2
3. Ravva
4. GS-15.
5. GS-23
6. GS-29

Miocene

Average Depth (m)

of HC Bearing Zone
1700**
9002560

7. GS-38
Oligocene
Eocene

10. Mori

Paleocene

Late Cretaceous

Early Cretaceous

Late Jurassic
Late Permian

33. Kaikaluru
34. Lingala

8. Adavipalem
9. Kesavadasupalem
11. Elamanchili
12. Tatipaka
13. Pasarlapudi
14. Ponnamanda
15. Mulikipalli
16. Kadali
17. Magatapalli
18. Medapadu
19. Kesanapalli
20. Bandamurlanka
21. Rangapuram
22. Lankapalem
23. Mummidivaram
24. Achanta
25. Razole
26. Palakollu
28. Enugupalli
29. Narasapur
30. Penumadam
31. Chintalapalli
32. Kavitam
35. Kaza
36. Vadali
37. Mahadevapatnam
38. Gokarnapuram
39. Bantumilli
40. Nandigama
41. Endamuru
42. Mandapeta

1650
1800
24002700

27. GS-8

20002500

2400
3400
3400
4450
4380
18002000
3300
4000

1700
2700

**In many elds the producing zones are multilayered.

*Use the number that is shown to locate the eld in the gure.

matter is mainly type III and minor type II. These

source rocks have a tendency to generate gas and subordinate oil and have generated hydrocarbons since the
early Miocene (Neeraja et al., 1997).
Offshore, lower MioceneOligocene source rocks
are identied in the Ravva area, where well G was
1640

Petroleum Potential of Krishna-Godavari Basin

drilled. The thickness of source beds is about 400 m,

and they have a high organic matter concentration
(TOC 1.491.86%). The quality of the source rock facies, however, is rated very poor for generating commercial quantities of liquid hydrocarbons (Philip et al.,
1991a, b).

Reservoirs
Potential Krishna-Godavari basin reservoirs range in
age from Early Permian to MiocenePliocene. The oldest reservoirs are thick prerift Permian sandstones that
overlie PermianCarboniferous source beds. Thin
sandstone beds in Lower and Upper Cretaceous source
shale beds have proven to be reservoirs capable of producing both oil and gas. Lower Eocene sandstones that
overlie Paleocene source beds have proven reserves.
Miocene and Pliocene deltaic sand beds in the Ravva
area are good oil producers possibly because hydrocarbons have migrated from a deeper source.
Trap Styles and Play Types
Seismic surveys and geological mapping indicate that
although structural traps do exist in the KrishnaGodavari basin, most of them are only small to medium in size. In contrast, updip pinch-outs, unconformity surfaces, and permeability barriers all play an
important role in the entrapment of hydrocarbons.
The oldest gas-producing reservoir is the Permian
Mandapeta Sandstone. The thickness of the reservoir
is more than 2000 m. Fault-controlled structures are
common, but simple amplitude reversals are uncom-

mon. The dominant factor for entrapment is the permeability barrier, as evidenced in the presence of
quartz overgrowths observed in thin-section petrography; however, the red bed overlying rift-ll sediments
acts as regional seal.
Upper JurassicLower Cretaceous sandstones are
truncated against preexisting basement highs. The Raghavapuram Shale, which is the overlying Lower Cretaceous transgressive shale, may exist as a regional seal
for these reservoirs. Thin limestone and sandstone beds
deposited within the Raghavapuram Shale are reservoir rocks.
Thin sandstone beds within thick Upper Cretaceous claystone beds are potential reservoirs in the East
Godavari subbasin. Stratigraphic plays include turbidite fans located southeast of the MPFZ. Basalt may
form the regional seal for all the Cretaceous sediments.
Anticlinal closures serve as traps for lower Eocene
reservoirs. Interbedded shales may serve as local seals
for these reservoirs. The thick middle Eocene carbonate may also act as a regional seal.
Sandstone beds in the MiocenePliocene sediments are interspersed with clay beds, which may act
as local seals for entrapment; however, growth faults
and associated rollover anticlines are more effective
traps. The MiocenePliocene erosional unconformity

Figure 16. Conceptual hydrocarbon play types in the

Krishna-Godavari basin. Play
concepts include (1) permeability barriers; (2) fault closures in
Upper Permian reservoirs;
(3) clastic wedges and associated unconformity traps in Upper Jurassic (Gollapalli Sandstone) uviomarine sediments;
(4) sand lenses within Cretaceous and Paleocene argillaceous facies; (5) anticlinal
closures in lower Eocene nearshore clastic reservoirs;
(6) growth faults, erosional cut,
and rollover anticlinal accumulations in MiocenePliocene
clastics in the shallow marine
area of the basin. Regional
seals: I red beds, II Raghavapuram shales, III Deccan basalts, IV middle Eocene carbonates, V Pliocene
clays.
Rao

1641

surface, prominent in seismic sections, is overlain by

thick Pliocene unconsolidated clay beds, which form a
regional seal (Figure 16).

CONCLUSIONS
The subsurface data reveal the presence of a thick sediment ll in the basin and the extension of the
northwest-southeasttrending Pranahita-Godavari graben underneath the northeast-southwesttrending
Krishna-Godavari basin between two major crosstrends. The continuation of the basin is visualized to
reach the OCB, located in the deep-water area of the
basin.
The southeastern part of the basin is a major
Tertiary depositional center because of a series of
down-to-the-basin faulting during the early Paleocene.
Because of change in the gradient, major delta progradation is not seen in the area during the Paleocene and
early Eocene. The rapid sediment ll in the low has
facilitated smooth progradation of the delta toward the
southeast since the middle Eocene.
Seismic facies analysis of different sequences suggests typical passive margin subsidence. The positions
of shelf edges through the geological ages have been
marked. The Neogene depositional system has bifurcated into two separate depocenters in the basin since
the Miocene.
The lithofacies variations within marked sequences were discussed in detail and a lithostratigraphic nomenclature is proposed for the entire sedimentary column of the basin. In the basin, good source
rocks are identied in the sequence ranging from
PermianCarboniferous to lower Miocene.
The envisaged depositional patterns of the basin
through geological ages help to identify locales of good
reservoir facies in the vicinity of source facies. The basin has good hydrocarbon potential, and exploratory
efforts to locate oil and gas pools through seismicstratigraphic analysis may enhance the discovery rate.

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