Organic Geochemical Evaluation of the Lower Cretaceous Minagish Reservoir Formation in Kuwait

Fowzia Hussein Abdullah* and Suad AbdulKareem Qabazard**
Kuwait University
*[email protected]
**[email protected]

The Lower Cretaceous Minagish Formation is one of the major oil reservoirs in southern Kuwait. The middle oolitic member is the main reservoir interval and is capped by the up-per carbonate mudstone member. The reservoir is productive in the Burgan, Minagish, Mutriba and Bahra fields in Kuwait, and in the Wafra, South Fawaris, Hout and Dorra oil fields in the Kuwait-Saudi Arabia Partitioned Neutral Zone. The specific gravity of the Mi-nagish-reservoired oil ranges from 28^o to 33.4^o API and the average sulfur concentration is 2.6%. The reservoir in the Minagish field contains a 50–100-ft-thick tarmat and very high-density oil at the base of the oil column. This interval has blocked the base of the reservoir and caused a decrease in reservoir pressure. An understanding of the nature and composi-tion of the oil column throughout the reservoir may identify zones of low- and high-density oil, as well as tarmat and pyrobitumen. Applying this analysis may help in production and enhancing oil recovery. The analysis can be conducted by using organic geochemical meth-ods applied on rock samples or oil in the formation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the nature of the hydrocarbons in the Minagish Formation using the Rock Eval-Reservoir method as one of the tools to identify zones of heavy and light hydrocarbon zones. It is an-ticipated to show the homogeneity of the hydrocarbon along the reservoir, both vertically and horizontally. A total of 72 core samples were collected from four oil fields in southern Kuwait; Burgan, Magwa, Minagish and Umm Gudair fields. They will be analyzed using the above method and the results will be tabulated. Calculations will be carried-out on the result to identify the nature of hydrocarbons along each of the study well.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90077©2008 GEO 2008 Middle East Conference and Exhibition, Manama, Bahrain