Print this pageIs There a Common Source for the Egyptian, Saudi and Yameni Hydrocarbons in the Red Sea?
SALAH, M. G.; and A. S. ALSHARHAN
The Red Sea rifted basin contain more than 10 recent oil and gas discoveries in Egypt, Saudi and Yamen and attracted the attention of several exploration companies. The sedimentary succession here can be divided into pre-rift (pre-Miocene) and syn-rift (Miocene and post-Miocene) megasequences. The pre-rift section has been penetrated; only in a few wells drilled on the northern (Egyptian) side, while the syn-rift section is known on the entire basin. The Red Sea consists of elongated troughs separated by elongated structural highs, both of which trend northwest-southeast (Red Sea trend). Identified rich source rock intervals are present in the upper Senonian on the Egyptian side, the early, middle and late Miocene in the whole basin. The pre-Miocene and the early Miocene source rocks host oil-prone kerogen, whereas the middle and late Miocene source rocks contain oil- and/or gas-prone kerogen. All these source rocks are sufficiently mature in most of the deep "kitchens" to generate hydrocarbons.
Using both bulk and specific parameters, the correlation of liquid hydrocarbons and source rock extracts from the Red Sea suggests that (1) the Egyptian, Saudi and Yameni Red Sea oils form one genetic family which is different from the typical Gulf of Suez oils. The Gulf of Suez oil is sourced from the upper Senonian carbonates, while the Red Sea oil is sourced from the Miocene formations (2) the Red Sea oil group is characterized by a relatively higher wax content, low sulfur content, a pristane/phytane ratio of more than 1.0, a dominance of C29 steranes and an abundance of the biomarker gammacerane, the interpretation of these parameters suggests the possibility of two sources for these oils: a siliciclastic marine source and a relatively restricted, non-marine source.