A Regional
Overview of the Exploration Potential of the
Fraser, Alastair1, Jeremy Goff2,
Bob Jones3, Christoph Lehmann4,
Ivor Simpson2 (1) BP Exploration Inc,
Sunbury on Thames, United Kingdom (2) BP Exploration, Sunbury on Thames,
Middlesex, United Kingdom (3) BP Exploration, Sunbury-on-Thames, United Kingdom
(4) BP, Houston, TX
The
BP's unique database gathered during some
100 years of exploration activity in the region has been used to generate a
plate scale understanding of the geological evolution of the
A detailed tectonostratigraphic
history of the plate is used to define a total of 6 play fairways, which are analysed for their petroleum potential.
Palaeozoic e.g. Unayzah and Jauf fields of Saudi
Arabia Khuff (Upper Permian) e.g. South Pars/North
Dome field of Qatar and Iran Arab (Jurassic) e.g. Ghawar
Field of Suadi Arabia Zubair
(Lower Cretaceous) e.g. Rumaila/West Qurna Field of Iraq Burgan (‘mid' Cretaceous) e.g. Burgan
Field of Kuwait Asmari (Tertiary) e.g. Asmari and Bangestan Fields of
Iran
All major fields are seen to be the
products of :
i) compressional
folding either as thin skinned Zagros folds or as
thick skinned inversions of older Infra-Cambrian (north-south) and
Permian-Triassic (northwest-southeast) rifts, ii) salt induced anticlines
The areal
distribution of the various play types is determined by the interplay of
regional facies and burial trends. These are
discussed using a series of detailed palaeo facies and depth maps.
Finally, we comment on the remaining
exploration potential in the region from a play fairway point of view.
AAPG Search and Discover Article #90063©2007 AAPG Annual Convention, Long Beach, California