Organic geochemistry of possible Middle Miocene–Pliocene source rocks in the west and northwest Nile Delta, Egypt

Geochemistry of Liquid Hydrocarbons and Natural Gases Combined with 1D Basin Modeling of the Oligocene Shale Source Rock System in the Offshore Nile Delta, Egypt

“…These age-dating biomarker results of the oil and condensate samples in the Oligocene reservoir rock from the studied wells correspond to the source rock potential of the Cenozoic (Oligocene–Miocene) sedimentary successions in the Nile Delta reported by previous works. 11 , 91 These source rocks are mainly clay-rich facies and have types III and II/III kerogen. 11 , 91 However, the Oligocene units, including the Tineh Formation, are buried approximately up to 6000 m deeper than the Miocene and Pliocene formations in the studied Jh 64-1R well and reached a main oil and gas generation window ( Figure 6 ), indicating that the Oligocene Tineh Formation is more mature and genetically linked enough to be the oil and gas source rock in the offshore Nile Delta.…”

“… 11 , 91 These source rocks are mainly clay-rich facies and have types III and II/III kerogen. 11 , 91 However, the Oligocene units, including the Tineh Formation, are buried approximately up to 6000 m deeper than the Miocene and Pliocene formations in the studied Jh 64-1R well and reached a main oil and gas generation window ( Figure 6 ), indicating that the Oligocene Tineh Formation is more mature and genetically linked enough to be the oil and gas source rock in the offshore Nile Delta.…”

“…Over the last decades, many researchers have dealt with evaluating the hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs in the offshore Nile Delta and characterizing its source rock potentiality through analyzing the available petrophysical, geological, well logging, and geochemical data. − However, several published studies are believed to have mainly discovered natural gases in most of the fields of the western offshore Nile Delta, which were sourced from the organic-rich sedimentary rocks of the late Mesozoic–late Cenozoic era (i.e., Oligocene–Pliocene). ,, The main source of gas and condensate in the western offshore Nile Delta is considered to be the Oligocene–early Miocene formations …”

Molecular and isotopic evidence for the origin of light oils and associated gases in the onshore northeast Nile Delta

“…Figure 7b indicates that their source rock was very mature (peak mature oil window), supplemented by relatively high Ts/Tm and diasteranes/regular steranes ratios (0.96-1.13 and 1.01-1.07, respectively; Table 2). El Diasty et al (2022) concluded that the Miocene Sidi Salem and Abu Madi extracts contain organic matter from mixed planktonic/bacterial as well as higher plants with substantial contribution of algae, deposited under suboxic to anoxic conditions. Good correlation has been reported by these authors between the lower Miocene Sidi Salem source rocks and the discovered oils in the Rosetta and Abu Qir oilfields, offshore Nile Delta.…”

“…The Pliocene Kafr El Sheikh Formation is immature across the Nile Delta (Abdel Aal et al, 2001;Vandré et al, 2007). Oligocene-Miocene potential source intervals recovered from the Nile Delta and eastern Mediterranean were reported to be rich in Type-III and Type-II/III organic matter (Kamel et al, 1998;Sharaf, 2003;El Nady, 2007;El Diasty et al, 2022) and are commonly believed to be the principal source of the discovered hydrocarbons (Sharaf, 2003;Lučić and Bosworth, 2019). However, Upper Cretaceous-Eocene and Upper Jurassic-Middle Cretaceous intervals rich in Type-II and Type-II/III kerogen, respectively, cannot be completely excluded (Feinstein et al, 2002;Sharaf, 2003;Villinski, 2013;Al-Balushi et al, 2016).…”