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Research Article 3D Seismic Structural Analysis and Basin Modeling of the Matruh Basin, Western Desert, Egypt

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Research Article 3D Seismic Structural Analysis and Basin Modeling of the Matruh Basin, Western Desert, Egypt Hindawi International Journal of Geophysics Volume 2018, Article ID 4931307, 19 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4931307 Research Article 3D Seismic Structural Analysis and Basin Modeling of the Matruh Basin, Western Desert, Egypt Farouk I. Metwalli ,1 El Arabi H. Shendi,2 Bruce Hart,3 and Waleed M. Osman4 1 Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt 2Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt 3Earth and Planetary Science Department, Faculty of Science, McGill University, Montreal,´ QC, Canada 4Department of Science and Mathematics, Faculty of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Suez Canal University, Suez, Egypt Correspondence should be addressed to Farouk I. Metwalli; pine [email protected] Received 30 August 2017; Accepted 29 November 2017; Published 18 January 2018 Academic Editor: Rudolf A. Treumann Copyright © 2018 Farouk I. Metwalli et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In order to evaluate the hydrocarbon potential of the Matruh Basin, North Western Desert of Egypt, the tectonic history, basin analysis, and maturity modeling of the Albian-Cenomanian Formations of the Matruh Basin were investigated using well logs and 3D seismic data. Structural analysis of the tops of the Bahariya, Kharita, and Alamein Dolomite Formations reveals them to dip to the southeast. Burial history and subsidence curves show that the basin experienced a tectonic subsidence through the Middle-Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous times. Termal maturity models indicated that Cenomanian clastics of the Bahariya Formation are in the early mature stage in the east portions of the area, increasing to the mid maturity level in the southwestern parts. On the other hand, the Albian Kharita Formation exhibits a mid maturation level in the most parts of the area. Te petroleum system of the Matruh Basin includes a generative (charge) subsystem with Middle Jurassic and Cenomanian sources (for oil/gas) and Turonian sources (for oil), with peak generation from Turonian to Eocene, and a migration-entrapment subsystem including expulsion and migration during Early Tertiary to Miocene into structures formed from Late Cretaceous to Eocene. 1. Introduction Matruh Basin (Figure 1) has special importance because of its position with respect to many nearby oil felds. Te Te area of investigation is located in the northwestern part Matruh Basin was estimated by Shahin [4] to host 23 BBOE of the Western Desert of Egypt, in the northern part of with a low attached risk to the preservation of hydrocarbon the Western Desert Basin (Figure 1). Te Western Desert accumulations because oil migration postdates the severe covers more than two-thirds of the area of Egypt. Within Late Cretaceous tectonics. EgyptDolsonetal.[1]showedthatwhereastheGulfof Suez has reached a mature discovery rate, both the ofshore In light of these discoveries and exploration interest, Mediterranean and the Western Desert areas hold signifcant there is a clear need to understand the tectonic history of promise. Tey suggested that some reservoirs of 100 MMBO this area and to defne elements of the petroleum system and larger would be discovered in the Western Desert. that can lead to continued exploration success. In this paper Indeed, several signifcant discoveries in this area in the a thermal model that predicts source rock maturity and past few years suggest that this area of Egypt and adjacent hydrocarbon generation for the Matruh Basin and adjacent Libya holds considerable promise. For example, Qasr Field areasisconstructed. (discovery announced by Apache in July 2003) is a giant We also use 3D seismic data to illustrate the structural reservoir with more than 2 trillion cubic feet of gas and complexity of this area and to help constrain its tectonic 50 million barrels of estimated recoverable reserves. Within history. Te study area (Figure 1) covers approximately 5200 this broad area, Abdel Fattah [2, 3] recognized that the square kilometers (≈2085 square miles). 2 International Journal of Geophysics E 27∘00 27∘30 31∘24 31∘24 Mersa Matruh N MMX1 Mediterranean Sea Abu Tunis 1X N Siqeifa 1 Darduma 1A Matruh 2-1 Mideiwar Matruh 3-1 Ras Kanayes 1 31∘00 31∘00 Matruh 1-1 (km) (mi) 05100 5 27∘00 27∘30 Figure 1: Well location map, Matruh Basin, North Western Desert, Egypt. Te main potential source rocks in the Matruh Basin the rifing process, during the Late Cretaceous, the Syrian area are the Lower Cretaceous Alam El Bueib, the Jurassic Arc System was developed due to NW to NNW-SE to SSE Khatatba [7], and the Albian Kharita Formations [8]. Te compressional forces that afected Egypt as a result of the hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs are represented by the Mid- convergence between African/Arabian and Eurasian plates dle Jurassic Khatatba Formation, Lower Cretaceous Alam [12,13].TiscompressionlastedintotheEoceneandledtothe El Bueib Formation, and the Lower to Upper Cretaceous elevation and folding of major portions of the North Western Bahariya Formation [9]. Tree wells, the Alexandrite-1X Desert along NE to ENE-SW to WSW trends. Dolson et al. (2003), Mihos-1X (2004), and Imhotep-1X (2004), lie in the [1] suggested that most of the traps discovered in the Western southeastern corner of our study area in the Matruh Basin. DesertarerelatedtotheSyrianArc.StartingintheOligocene Tey produce gas from the Middle Jurassic Khatatba and and continuing through the Miocene, the rifing of the Gulf Early Cretaceous for Alam El Bueib Formations. of Suez and formation of the Red Sea were fulflled due to extensional forces in the NE-SW direction [14]. 2. Geologic Setting Te Matruh and adjacent Shushan subbasins initially may have been formed as a single rif during the Permo-Triassic 2.1. Structural Background. Te northern part of the Western andlaterdevelopedinapull-apartstructure[15].Metwalli Desert Basin can be subdivided into fve subbasins (Figure 2). and Pigott [7] tested the rifing hypothesis using geochemical Te Alamein and Shushan subbasins strike approximately data to examine the thermal model. Teir results showed that WSWtoENEandareboundedbyfaultsofsimilarorienta- the rifing model approximates reality but that the steady state tion. Te Alamein subbasin is bounded to the north by the assumption was not consistent with the geochemical data. Dabaa Ridge and to the south by the Alamein Trough. Te Shushan subbasin is bounded to the north by the Umbarka 3. Stratigraphy Platform and to the south by the North Qattara Ridge. Te Qattara subbasin strikes approximately E-W and is bounded Te complex tectonic history of the Western Desert is to the north by North Qattara Ridge and to the south by the responsible for the many unconformities found in the stratig- South Qattara Ridge. Te Khalda and Matruh subbasins are raphy of the area [16]. Te sedimentary cover of the North bordered by NNE to SSW trending faults [5]. Western Desert ranges in age from Cambrian to Recent [8]. Te structural evolution of Egypt was infuenced by A summary stratigraphic column for the area is shown in several tectonic events that reactivated older structural trends Figure 3. prevailing in the basement rocks [10, 11]. Hantar [10] iden- Te Mesozoic section is represented by Jurassic and Cre- tifedfourmainstructuraltrendsinthebasementrocks, taceous rocks. Te Jurassic is composed of three formations. these being orientations of N-S, NE-SW, ENE-WSW, and E- Tese are, from oldest to youngest, the Wadi El Natrun, W trends. During the Jurassic, several rif basins were formed Khatatba, and Masajid Formations. Te Wadi El Natrun asaresultoftherifingthatwascausedbytheseparationof Formation is composed mainly of limestone and shale. Tis North Africa/Arabia Plate from European Plate [1]. Following formation is present in the northernmost part of the Western International Journal of Geophysics 3 FIELDS NOT TO SCALE (km) 0 100 0 60 (mi) Figure 2: Te main fve subbasins constituting the Northern Western Desert Basin (afer Sultan and Halim [5]). Desert but undergoes a facies change to its time equivalent upper Cenomanian/Santonian deposition. Tis formation is Ras Qattara Formation (consisting mainly of sandstones and subdivided into seven rock units arranged from top to base shales) to the south. In the study area, the Ras Qattara asA,B,C,D,E,F,andGandiscomposedmainlyof Formation is only presented in the Matruh 1-1 well. limestone with minor shale and evaporites. Te youngest Te Khatatba Formation overlies the Wadi El Natrun For- Upper Cretaceous Formation is Khoman which represents mation and is composed of carbonaceous shale with interbed- the sediments of Maestrichtian/Campanian. It is mainly ded sandstone and minor thin limestone. Te Masajid For- composed of limestone. mation, composed of limestone with intercalations of shale, Tertiary rocks are also present in the area. Te Eocene conformably overlies the Khatatba Formation. is represented by the Appollonia Formation (lower-middle Te Cretaceous system in the Western Desert area has Eocene) which lies unconformably above the Upper Cre- been subjected to various classifcations and nomenclatures taceous Khoman Formation. It is composed mainly of [8]. As employed here, the Lower Cretaceous system is limestone, occasionally dolomitic, with a few shale layers. composed of three formations. Te oldest is Alam El Bueib Te Oligocene-Upper Eocene Dabaa Formation overlies the which
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