Exploring hydrocarbon potential with 3D modeling techniques: Lower Cretaceous formations in Abu Sennan field, north Western Desert

Abstract

The northern portion of the Egyptian Western Desert is a very promising oil-producing province. The Abu Roash and Bahariya formations in Abu Sennan Field have a diverse lithological composition, leading to variances in reservoir continuity both horizontally and vertically. The reservoir heterogeneity problem is addressed by utilizing datasets derived from five wells and 3D seismic data that covers the full region of Abu Sennan. The lithology and reservoir levels were determined using geophysical well data. The investigated formations consist of sandstone, carbonate, and shale. The “E” and “G” members of the Abu Roash Formation, in addition to the Bahariya Formation, have the highest potential for containing hydrocarbons. Abu Roash E has a range of net pay from 17-47 m, shale volume ranging from 17% to 36%, effective porosity ranging between 20% and 26%, and oil saturation ranging between 49% and 77%. The Abu Roash “G” has a net pay range of 7-34 m, a shale content ranging from 5% to 42%, an effective porosity between 10% and 24%, and a hydrocarbon saturation ranging from 46% to 60%. The Bahariya Formation has a vertical thickness of 12-62 m, with a percentage of shale ranging from 16% to 44%. The formation also exhibits an effective porosity ranging from 15% to 26% and an oil saturation ranging between 46% and 77%. Analyzed 3D seismic data were utilized to create depth-structure maps. Seismic data interpretation and petrophysical analysis enabled the creation of 3D models for the structures and reservoirs in the Abu Sennan region. The static models served as the main inputs for calculating the volumetrics and generating two additional interesting opportunities in the researched region. For the investigated reservoirs, the estimated stock tank oil in place was about 394, 216, 376, and 601 (× 10⁶ m³) for AR/E, AR/F, AR/G, and Upper Baharyia, respectively. The projected volumes show the potential of the investigated intervals.

Keywords

Seismic interpretation / Petrophysical analysis / Reservoir modeling / Abu Sennan field / Western Desert

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Taher Mostafa: Writing-original draft, Resources, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation. Mohamed Reda: Writing-review & editing, Visualization, Software, Investigation, Data curation. Mohamed Mosaad: Writing-original draft, Validation, Software, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization. Dmitriy Martyushev: Writing-original draft, Supervision, Resources, Methodology, Data curation. Mansour H. Al-Hashim: Writing-review & editing, Validation, Software, Resources. Mohamed Fathy: Writing-review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Formal analysis, Data curation.

Availability of data and materials

The data supporting the conclusions of this study may be obtained from the corresponding author upon a reasonable request.

Funding

This research was supported by the Researchers Supporting Project number (RSPD2025R781), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; This research was funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Project No. FSNM-2024-0005).

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgements

The authors extend their appreciation to the Researchers Supporting Project number (RSPD2025R781), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The authors express their gratitude to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and General Petroleum Company for supplying the necessary raw materials and geochemical reports from their archives. They are also grateful for the provision of digital logs and permission to publish.

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