Vanoil’s 2010 exploration program has commenced with an environmental impact assessment for the planned 2D marine seismic program within the East Kivu Graben. This area located over Lake Kivu surrounds what is believed to be the south-western extension of Uganda’s Albertine Graben that contains the four lakes (Lake Albert, Lake George, Lake Edward and Lake Kivu).
Based on interpretation of gravity and magnetic data (2008 PGW and Vanoil survey), the basinal area in East Kivu is approximately 600sqkm with local accumulation of sediments exceeding 3,000mt in the central depo-centre.
The East Kivu Graben is the southernmost extension of the Albertine Graben along the western arm of East African rift system. The initial sediments in East Kivu Graben could be of Miocene or younger age.
The northernmost part of the Albertine Graben in Uganda is the Lake Albert area, which has an indicated oil reservoir of approximately one billion barrels. This oil discovery was found by Heritage Oil and Tullow Oil.
According to the company, the common origin (shared tectonic and sedimentary history) of Lake Kivu with Lake Edward, Lake George and Lake Albert presupposes a similar sedimentary in-fill and makes Lake Kivu an ideal basin to explore. Its prospectivity is further enhanced by presence of long chain hydrocarbons in the lake bottom sediments indicative of the existence of an active petroleum system.
