Typical Stratigraphic Traps along the Jurassic Gotnia Intra-shelf Basin Margin, Northeastern Saudi Arabia

C. Allen¹, A. Bohmail¹, and P. McEffer¹

Abstract

The Gotnia Intra-shelf Basin Margin (GIBM) in northeastern Saudi Arabia is a locus of geologic expression in the most prolific hydrocarbon province on earth. During the Jurassic, the GIBM was the boundary between the Arabian shelf to the south and the Gotnia Basin to the north with a margin to base level relief of approximately 300 feet. This region is best known for gigantic anticlinal traps, competent seals and very prolific source rocks. So numerous were four-way structural closures, that many of the stratigraphic trapping geometries along the GIBM remained untargeted and unrecognized until recently. Seismic facies analysis and advanced visualization techniques were used to illuminate stratigraphic trap potential associated with the GIBM. Structural and stratigraphic trends were seismically resolvable at the regional scale using several sparse 3D surveys. At the field scale, gross depositional environments were assigned based on observable 3D seismic geometries along with a sequence stratigraphic model supported by well logs and conventional core analyses.

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