Nadine El Tanahy
The American University in Cairo, Egypt
Title: Egypt’s Shale: Mapping the Unconventional Hydrocarbon Potential from the Western Desert to the North and South Gulf of Suez.
Biography:
Abstract:
Based on the published data, Egypt’s unconventional hydrocarbon potential is estimated to be around 500 TCF of Gas in Place and 200 Billion barrels of Oil in Place. Multiple publications discuss certain source rocks potential of the Egyptian basins but none compare and/or map all possible source rocks of Egypt based on quality and productivity. The source rocks of Egypt vary in quality, hydrocarbon type and productivity across Egypt; from the Western Desert, WD, to the Gulf of Suez, GOS. They also vary within the same basin based on depth, maturity and hydrocarbon potential. Mapping the source rocks across Egypt will help the operating companies to properly rank the source rocks of the Egyptian basins and increase the success rate of unleashing this considerable potential. This study purports to analyze the various published and current researches on the geologic and reservoir data related to Egypt’s unconventional reservoirs to generate a solid scientific mapping of Egypt potential across Egypt.
The parameters used to map the unconventional potential across Egypt include, but are not limited to, the total organic carbon TOC, the free hydrocarbon S1, the source rock potential S2, the CO2 component S3, the level of maturity LOM, the vitrinite reflectance VR, the hydrogen index HI, the oxygen index OI, the production index PI, and maximum temperature Tmax. All data are based on lab measurements either on core or ditched samples. These parameters help afford the data needed in order to illustrate the current understanding of the quality and quantity of resources in Egypt. Explicit data from fields across Egypt is used to build assessments that identify the quality and the productivity potential of Egypt’s unconventional reservoirs