Exploration
New Opportunities
Offshore West Egypt
SIMON BAER and
ØYSTEIN LIE, PGS;
AYMAN ALMORSHEDY, EGAS
Hydrocarbon exploration success offshore Egypt to date is mainly associated with the prolific
Pliocene sequence in the Nile Delta Basin, but as the recent Zohr discovery shows, there are other
potential plays to follow. Here, we look at the relatively unexplored area of offshore West Egypt.
Figure 1: Location
map of Egypt’s
Mediterranean
Sea area showing
licensed acreage
together with the
80,000 km2 frontier
area west of the Nile
Delta.
123rf.com/Mohamed Hanno
The lighthouse in Alexandria looks out over
thewaters west of the Nile Delta, an area as yet
poorly explored for hydrocarbons.
42 GEOExPro February 2016
Figure 2: The study area, outlined in red, includes several different geological domains based on interpretation of existing data: the Shelf area, the
Matruh Canyon, the Herodotus Basin and the Herodotus Fold Belt. The relevant exploration wells within the survey area and in the vicinity are marked
on the map. The yellow stippled areas are potential basin floor fans from the Nile Delta.
The frontier exploration area offshore West Egypt (Figure 1) of Rupelian age (Figure 5). New seismic 2D data acquisition
consists of several structural domains (Figure 2) including, is currently being planned to enable a full assessment of the
from south to north, a comparatively narrow shelf zone; petroleum system in this area. These data will form the basis for
a west-south-west to east-north-east trending transform a future licensing round tentatively planned for 2017.
margin; parts of the Herodotus Basin; and the Herodotus
Fold Belt to the north-west. The onshore extension of this Petroleum Systems
area contains a proven petroleum system for both oil and Different potential play types have been identified utilising
gas, as evidenced by the Matruh and Emerald fields. seismic data, well information and existing discoveries from
To date, exploration in this large area has been limited, and analogous geological settings such as onshore discoveries in
consequently the petroleum systems are currently not well Western Egypt, the recent Zohr gas discovery (Figure 2) or
understood. Only two exploration wells, Kiwi-1 (2010) and Sidi other giant discoveries in the Levant Basin. Play types can
Barani-1, (1976) have been drilled, and both were dry, although be identified in four different geological domains, which are
Kiwi-1 did prove very good sandstone reservoir properties described below and illustrated on legacy lines in time.
Matruh Canyon
The Matruh Canyon is a north-north-east trending Jurassic seismic evidence for an active deepwater hydrocarbon
to Early Cretaceous rift basin, inverted in the Late Cretaceous charge is given by gas chimneys and active mud volcanoes.
– Early Tertiary, with a major Early Cretaceous
depocentre. Cretaceous raft blocks from the Figure 3: Legacy seismic data example from the Matruh Canyon showing the
Cretaceous shale decollement (green) and Cretaceous raft structures (light green)
Matruh Canyon can be defined as a structural which could be sourced from the deeper source rock.
analogue to the producing post-rift Cretaceous
raft blocks from the Lower Congo Basin. The
PGS
Cretaceous blocks in the Matruh Canyon are
rafts on a shale decollement, as seen on the data
example in Figure 3, and could potentially be
sourced by a deeper source rock from the Khatatba
Formation, which is a proven hydrocarbon
source for the onshore discoveries. Based on its
burial depth, the Khatatba Formation could be
interpreted to be partially or entirely in the gas-
generation window within this area.
The Matruh Canyon extends offshore down
dip from the onshore discovery trend where the
Mersa Matruh-1 well, with significant oil and gas
shows, is located just onshore (Figure 2). Further
GEOExPro February 2016 43
Exploration
Shelf Area
The comparatively narrow shelf can potentially be
PGS
linked to the onshore discovery trend, where most
reservoirs are found within the Lower Cretaceous
Alam El Bueib Formation and in the Jurassic
Khatatba Formation. Potential traps can be
observed in both formations within the Shelf area.
Figure 4 shows a potential lead along a north-
west – south-east trending fault that represents
the general structural trend in the Shelf area. This
trend is perpendicular to the stratigraphic dip,
and thus provides potential fault-bounded traps
for hydrocarbons migrating up-dip or acts as a
vertical conduit for hydrocarbon migration into
shallower traps. Figure 4: Legacy seismic data example from the Shelf area, an extension of the
onshore Western Desert Basin with a proven petroleum system.
Herodotus Basin
The Herodotus Basin is a Tertiary sag basin resulting from Paleogene to Neogene pelagic sediments are considered to
the opening of the Neo-Tethys during Mid-Jurassic to Early be the hydrocarbon source for the potential biogenic gas in
Cretaceous times and is characterised by the presence of the area. Seismic characteristics, such as continuous, layered
Messinian Salt over nearly the entire area. reflectors, indicate that these pelagic sediments are likely to be
The biogenic gas window in the Herodotus Basin is deep due well distributed in the Herodotus Basin, and unconformities
to the low geothermal gradient as a result of the thick Messinian may allow long distance lateral charge.
Salt and the old passive margin (20–25°C/km). These conditions The thermal conductivity of the salt lowers the geothermal
allow biogenic gas to be generated and trapped deeper than in gradient in this area, which will deepen the generation window
other basins, meaning that the reservoirs can contain larger for both biogenic gas and thermogenic hydrocarbons. A
volumes of gas, thus improving the overall economics. These potential thermogenic play can thus be found in deeper Jurassic
conditions are exceptional but apply to all major gas discoveries carbonate and Early Cretaceous sandstone reservoirs sealed by
offshore the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Pre-salt structures interbedded shales (Figure 5) and within structural closures as a
are observed in the Herodotus Basin, all of which are located result of a Late Cretaceous to Early Paleogene inversion period.
within the biogenic gas window. These could be
analogous to the giant biogenic gas discoveries
seen in the Eastern Mediterranean area such
as the recent Zohr discovery, found in pre-salt
carbonates. In addition, the cooler conditions also
allow a thermogenic system that could generate
hydrocarbon liquids and gas at greater depths
than might be normally expected in such thick
sedimentary piles.
The Zohr discovery appears to prove excellent
porosities within parts of the carbonate reservoir
and thus highlights the exploration potential in
pre-salt carbonates. However, potential pre-salt
sandstones could also have high porosities as
a result of being subjected to fewer digenetic
processes due to the low geothermal gradient.
A Miocene sandstone fairway is proven on the
western flank of the Nile Delta by wells from
the Raven, Abu Qir and El King fields (Figure
2). A more distal down dip extension of this
fairway is indicated by RMS attribute maps from
a 3D seismic survey around the Kiwi-1 well in
PGS
the Herodotus Basin. This well failed to find
Figure 5: Seismic data example and lithology column through the Kiwi-1 exploration
sandstones within the Miocene section, although well. Sub-salt sandstones in Rupelian (Oligocene) age (RS1-3) with high porosity values
it found good quality ones within the Oligocene. were proven.
44 GEOExPro February 2016
Herodotus Fold Belt
The Herodotus Fold Belt is associated with the
Mediterranean Ridge and is located in the north-west part
of the Aegean Plate (Figure 2). The Messinian Salt is thick REDUCE COSTS.
and folded in this area as a result of tectonic compression
and gravity-driven deformation. Salt-related anticlinal
structures can be found within the Pliocene sequence INCREASE EFFICIENCY AND
and could form structural traps. The overburden here is
sufficient to place any potential reservoirs in the prolific PRODUCTIVITY.
biogenic gas window, so that any traps could potentially
contain biogenic gas in economical quantities, whereas the
Pliocene sequence in other parts of the Herodotus Basin is REDUCE DATA FRICTION.
likely to be too thin for this to occur. In this area, the Pre-
Messinian is not well understood due to a limited amount
of data and the challenges related to 2D seismic imaging of
strata beneath the thick folded salt sequence.
New Geophysical Data Needed
The existing geophysical 2D and 3D data coverage is limited,
and the 2D generally poorly images the subsurface in many
areas where it has been acquired. Reprocessing of this legacy 2D
data, which consists of three surveys from 1999, 2005 and 2007,
is currently being undertaken using up-to-date broadband
processing sequences, in which both receiver- and source-side
deghosting will be applied. De-noise techniques including
demultiple will be very important in addition to pre-stack depth
migration to optimise the use of this vintage data.
A new 2D GeoStreamer® broadband data acquisition In this downturn, reducing costs is
programme of approximately 5,000 line km has been planned. paramount. Adopting Energistics data
Combined with the reprocessed legacy data, it is hoped that this exchange standards is a powerful way
will improve the definition and understanding of the structural
and lithological trends that have been interpreted using the old
to drive cost savings for your company.
existing data. The new data will be positioned in areas where
the legacy coverage is poor, such as the south-eastern part of the When you can find the data you need,
Shelf area and within the Herodotus Basin (Figure 2). Infill to know it is from a trusted source and
the existing 2D coverage will also provide better control when
identifying and quantifying potential leads. In this frontier
in a format immediately available
area, tie lines to exploration wells outside the survey area will to an application, you become more
be highly important. Ties from the two exploration wells within productive and efficient and you
the survey area to pre-salt gas discoveries (exploration wells reduce your costs.
Ld51-1, La52-1, KG45-1A) and an Upper Miocene – Lower
Pliocene oil, gas and condensate discovery (exploration well El
King) would be valuable (Figure 2). 2D gravity and magnetic For more information on the benefits of adopting Energistics
data is included in the new acquisition programme planning to standards, visit www.energistics.org/adoption
further enhance the geological understanding of the area.
Stimulating Further Exploration
The re-processed upgrade of the legacy data, combined with the
new broadband data coverage, are essential for defining new
play types and are expected to reveal similar potential to that
seen in analogous geological settings like the deep Nile Delta
and west Cyprus. The seismic data will be the basis for defining
new exploration blocks and for future licensing rounds. The
objective is to provide both EGAS (Egyptian Natural Gas
Holding Company) and the industry with optimum geophysical
data, allowing a better understanding of the complex geology
and helping stimulating further exploration in the area.
GEOExPro February 2016 45
