New insights on structure and stratigraphic interpretation for assessing the hydrocarbon potentiality of the offshore Nile Delta basin, Egypt

Abstract

The study area lies around the petroleum provinces of the Egyptian Offshore Nile Delta basin. The existing exploration data are sparse, and any effort made on the strati-structural interpretation is challenging for exploratory drilling campaigns, even with meager well control. Keeping in view the issues and major challenges, the authors propose new methodologies, tools and new insights into the interpretation of the existing data and information, to make the study area more attractive for investors and detailed exploration studies. The published geological work existing within the vicinity of the study area is an added value to the new insights of current interpretation and knowledge acquisition. PliocenePleistocene section is the main target in the study area, since it has quality reservoirs, holding commercial hydrocarbons. Pre-salt source rocks may have charged the reservoirs in the study area. Structural complexities and heterogeneities at target levels are likely to impact the seismic wavelet property intricacies and thus the data processing qualities. Post-and pre-salt tectonics in the northern part of Sinai, the Nile Cone, and how they affect the structural framework and the seismic interpretation work in the study area are described. For the purpose of understanding the combinational trapping mechanism, stratigraphic features and the structural geology are integrated using new tools and technologies. Several strati-structural plays are interpreted in the study area that support the detailed exploration campaigns, and the existing major hydrocarbon plays associated within shelf, slope and deep-marine geological events in nearby offshore regions. Diapir salt, rotated fault blocks and growth faults within syn-sediment systems are other plays to be investigated. The study is an effort of compiled work from many published sources, putting all ideas into a positive perspective and has better understanding of new opportunities, leads and prospects for investment purposes in the Nile Delta offshore basin.

El-Gendi Fortress: a new military and religious geo-archaeological site, Sinai, Egypt: geomorphological and hydrogeological remarks

“…These faults subdivide the Sinai Peninsula into three zones the unstable shelf, the transitional area and the stable shelf (Fig. 3a) [32][33][34][35][36][37]. The unstable shelf is characterized by the predominance of Syrian Arc and Tethys tectonics; it has a thick sedimentary cover (Fig.…”

“…3 A satellite image shows the Sinai Peninsula subdivision into three geological districts: the stable, the transitional and the non-stable shelves. The two fault zones, the Sinai Hing Belt (Minsherah-Abu Kandu shear zone) and the Themed Fault (Ragabet El-Naam fault) (a) lead to such a geographical division [33][34][35][36][37][38]. There are different historical roads for Hajj, Crusaders or Romans, and the proposed Exodus (a) [39].…”

Integrated prediction of deep-water gas channels using seismic coloured inversion and spectral decomposition attribute, West offshore, Nile Delta, Egypt

“…Moreover, the structural behaviour has been studied by many authors (e.g. Saleh 2013;Hanafy et al 2017). Emphasis on clear investigating the offshore Nile Delta Basin, based on structure, hydrocarbon potential, and stratigraphy (e.g.…”

Discrete fracture modeling by integrating image logs, seismic attributes, and production data: a case study from Ilam and Sarvak Formations, Danan Oilfield, southwest of Iran

“…Faults and fractures directly affect reservoir characteristics and crucially control fluid production rates in carbonate reservoirs (Hanafy et al 2017;Davarpanah et al 2018;Ghalenavi et al 2020). Natural fractures are mechanical failures in rock formations, usually resulting from geological stresses (Olson and Pollard 1989;Meng and Pater 2011;Bisdom et al 2017;Liao et al 2020).…”