Reviving a Dormant Opportunity: The Mabrouk Deep Gas Discovery

F.A. Al-Shehhi¹, M. Shaibani¹, and U. Mohiuddin Ghulam¹

Abstract

The Mabrouk oil and gas field (Gharif Formation), located in North Oman approximately 40 km west of Saih Rawl, was discovered in 1980 by the exploration well Mabrouk-1. Following the discovery, two deep wells Mabrouk-4 & 12 were drilled targeting the deeper Barik and Miqrat reservoirs of the Haima Supergroup, the same Formations that are producing in the main gas fields further to the east. The wells found gas in the Miqrat reservoir, but the flow rates were deemed non-commercial and the exploration campaign was subsequently abandoned. A renewed interest in the field in 2008 led to the acquisition of new 3D. Re-mapping of the major reservoirs led to a surprising discovery that both wells had been drilled on the flanks of the Mabrouk structure. Hence, a dormant opportunity was revived and Mabrouk-32 was drilled in 2012, about 5km updip of Mabrouk-4.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90188 ©GEO-2014, 11th Middle East Geosciences Conference and Exhibition, 10-12 March 2014, Manama, Bahrain