Deepwater Egypt, Cyprus, and Levant - Integrating Regional Seismic Data with Geochemical Data to predict the Deeper Fluids Play

Joseph Pape, Hossam Ali Mohamed, Mohamed Said, and Tarek El Azhary

Integration of regional seismic lines with potential fields data provides a structural template for basin modeling in the Eastern Mediterranean, and reprocessing allows more confident stratigraphic correlation into the uncalibrated deepwater areas of the basin. Projection of palaeohistory and depositional environments into the deepwater is critical for assessment of the source potential of the region.

Source rock systems are regionally developed in Middle Jurassic coals, Cenomanian-Turonian and Palaeogene marine deposits, and mixed marine/terrestrial deposits of Oligocene age. The offshore North Sinai Mango-1 oil was derived from a humic-rich source rock and can be classified as a Lower Cretaceous/Jurassic-sourced oil.

Cenomanian-Turonian marine source rocks are distributed along the Mediterranean margin with TOC values of up to 4%, and deeper water slope facies are reported from Morocco and Tunisia. Oil and gas-prone source rocks have recently been sampled from outcrop of Paleocene-Eocene chalks in North Lebanon. Finally, the offshore Nile Delta Abu Qir and Tinah oils were generated at a high thermal maturity from predominantly terrigenous organic matter, with elevated oleanane content and probable Oligocene age.

Jurassic coals are projected in to syn-rift basins underlying attenuated continental crust of the Levant Margin. However, they are overmature over large parts of the basin at depths in excess of 10 km. Cenomanian-Turonian levels are modeled as mature for wet gas generation around 20-10 MYA, and may be available to charge structures formed at Mid-Miocene. Tertiary source rocks are mature for expulsion of hydrocarbons from approximately 5 MYA to the present day.

Projection of source rock levels offshore Cyprus and Egypt is more uncertain, due to complex seismic imaging problems through Messinian evaporites. However, large areas are underlain by oceanic crust, and considerable depth of burial of Cretaceous levels renders the Oligocene the most likely source rock system for wet gas.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90161©2013 AAPG European Regional Conference, Barcelona, Spain, 8-10 April 2013