Petroleum Systems and New Plays in Frontier Exploration in Northwest Saudi Arabia

Douglas J. Cook, Andrew Knowlton, Allen Neville, Kent Norton, and Hendrik Sibon
Area Exploration, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

This talk will cover three petroleum system plays previously untested or underexplored in Saudi Arabia. The first play is the Cretaceous oil play in the Al-Jawf rift graben. This play is known from oil production from fractured carbonates in the Hamzeh field in Jordan. It is thought that more prolific clastic reservoirs, analogous to Gulf of Suez fields, may exist southeast of the Hamzeh field.

The second play is the Ordovician tight gas sand play. This play is known from Quwarah reservoir production from the Kahf field in Saudi Arabia, and from Dubeidib (Sarah) reservoir production from the Risha field of Jordan. The gas is sourced from the Silurian Qusaiba hot shale immediately above the reservoir. This shale also makes an effective top seal. This area was the Ordovician/Silurian basin center prior to uplift during the Hercynian Orogeny.

The third play is the Neoproterozoic half-graben play which trends south and east of the Al-Jawf rift graben. This play is analogous to the prolific Neoproterozoic of Oman. Basin modeling suggests that the play may be oil prone south of the Al-Jawf rift graben, and trend to gas prone to the east. The reservoirs are Lower Cambrian Siq and pre-Siq clastics topsealed by Burj limestone and sourced by Nafun-equivalent carbonates.

AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Cape Town, South Africa 2008 © AAPG Search and Discovery