--> Abstract: Southernmost Producing Oil Field in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt: Structural Anomaly near Rift-Transform Junction, by D. C. Blanchard, H. O. Saad, M. M. Meligi, R. Barrow, and W. Bosworth; #90923 (1999)

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BLANCHARD, D. C., H. O. SAAD, and M. MELIGI, M., Seagull East Zeit and South Hurghada Petroleum Ltd., Cairo, Egypt, R. BARROW, Seagull Energy Corporation, Houston,TX; and W. BOSWORTH, Marathon Petroleum Egypt Ltd.

Abstract: Southernmost Producing Oil Field in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt: Structural Anomaly near Rift-Transform Junction

In June of 1997, the Wadi el Sahl Field was put on production and thus became the southernmost producing oil field in the Gulf of Suez rift basin. Located onshore, this field produces from Early Miocene clastics of the Nukhul Formation preserved on gently rotated fault blocks dipping to the WNW. An attenuated but complete section of pre-rift sediments is preserved with discontinuous oil shows noted. Structural models for the southern Gulf of Suez basin suggest approximately 35 km of extension and imply highly rotated fault blocks to accommodate this amount of crustal stretching. For example, at the nearby outcrops of Gebel el Zeit, pre-rift strata are rotated by up to 50 degrees to the SW. Complicating the structural geometry is the Aqaba transform fault whose termination projects SSW into the Red Sea Hills immediately south of the Wadi el Sahl Field.The Wadi el Sahl Field sub-basin is a rift shoulder basin bounded to the west by the Gulf of Suez border fault and on the east by the rift axial trough.Although similar in overall shape and size to sub-basins to the north such as the Esh el Mellaha basin, pronounced differences in the internal geometry are observed. New data acquired over the past two years include a 3D seismic survey, a high-resolution airborne aeromagnetic survey and several exploration and development wells.These data along with the field observations from the Red Sea Hills, Esh el Mellaha and Gebel el Zeit suggest that the anomalous geometry of Wadi el Sahl is due to reactivation of pre-existing Gulf of Aqaba-trend and basement faults and the abandonment of the sub-basin during Early to Middle Miocene necking of the underlying Gulf of Suez crust.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90923@1999 International Conference and Exhibition, Birmingham, England