Session Descriptions:
SESSION 1 - Petroleum Systems of the Middle East – Challenges and Opportunities: Paleozoic and Older Petroleum Systems
The Middle East region has relatively few known source rocks of Paleozoic and older age, with most being geographically restricted. An exception is the widespread Lower Silurian source rocks, which are part of a global depositional event. These systems remain significantly underexplored. The Lower Silurian Qusaiba Formation, prevalent in Saudi Arabia and Oman, is a major source rock consisting of organic-rich shales deposited in a marine environment. It is highly prolific, contributing to substantial hydrocarbon accumulations in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, and Iraq. The effectiveness of these source rocks extends, to varying degrees, across other parts of the Middle East, including the Sahmah Formation (Oman), Mudawwara Formation (Jordan), Sharawra Formation (Qatar), Rann Formation (UAE), Abba (or Tanif) Formation (Syria), and Akkas Formation (Iraq).
Cambrian and Precambrian petroleum systems are primarily confined to Oman basins, with some presence in Yemen. These systems are considered as one of the well-known oldest source rocks and reservoirs with widely dominated lithologies of shallow marine to deep basinal carbonates, siliclyte and evaporites. The unique Athel siliciliyte and Ara carbonates-stringers are thought to be of self-charging systems. These systems serve as the primary source for the majority of Oman’s hydrocarbon accumulations. Hydrocarbons generated from Paleozoic and older source rocks are found in reservoirs spanning a wide age range, from Precambrian to Tertiary formations.
SESSION 2 - Petroleum Systems of the Middle East – Challenges and Opportunities: Mesozoic Petroleum Systems
The Mesozoic era is the most important petroleum system in the Middle East, especially in the Arabian-Iranian Basin.
The Neo Tethys formed in the early Mesozoic had intrashelf basins with rich source rocks. The early Mesozoic arid climate caused the formation of evaporitic caprocks.
Major Jurassic reservoirs are carbonate rocks such as the giant Arab Formation in Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar and Najmah in Iraq, Marrat in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Reservoirs in Yemen Jurassic while in Jordan and Syria are Triassic. The main cap rocks are the evaporites of the Gotnia Formation.
Cretaceous reservoirs are carbonate and clastic. In Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iraq the clastic reservoirs are Burgan, Zubair and Nahr Umr formations and Qishn in Yemen. Major carbonate reservoirs are Mauddud, Mishrif, and Natih formations.
Most of the source rocks are dominated with marly limestone and are mature, marine, agal type with kerogen type II, IIS to II-III with rich in TOC. Jurassic source rocks are, Tuwaiq Mountain, Hanifa, Jubaila, Najmah, Sargelu, and Khatatbah as well as some Jurassic in Yemen, Jordan, Syria and Egypt. Cretaceous source rocks include the Makhul in Kuwait, Kazdumi in Iran, Chia Gara and Sulaiy in Iraq, and Natih formations in Oman.
Some of these source rocks are unconventional reservoirs too, such as Najmah and Makhul formations.
This session seeks new Mesozoic oil and gas discoveries in the Middle East. This also includes the unconventional reservoirs within the source rocks.
SESSION 3 - Petroleum Systems of the Middle East – Challenges and Opportunities: Cenozoic Petroleum Systems
The Middle East possesses very important Cenozoic Petroleum systems particularly in Iraq, Iran, Red Sea countries (such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Sudan) in addition to the Nile Delta Basin in Egypt. The Cenozoic systems in the Middle East are found in various settings such as rift, fold belt and stratigraphic settings.
In Iraq, the Cenozoic Petroleum system is considered the second most important system. About 16% of the Iraqi reserves and about 40% of the southwestern Iranian reserves are found in the reservoir elements of this system. Many Iraqi and Iranian giant and supergiant oil fields are produced from Cenozoic reservoirs within the Zagros fold belt and foreland, including the supergiant Kirkuk Oilfield, the first major discovery in Iraq, and the supergiant Ahwaz Oilfield in Iran. The Cenozoic of Iraq and Kuwait also contains unconventional resources represented by heavy oils in the Middle Miocene.
The Gulf of Suez is one of the oldest Miocene producing oil basins in the Middle East comprising large share of Egypt oil production. In addition, may oil discoveries were reported in the various Red Sea countries in the Miocene. One of most prolific Miocene basins for gas in the Middle East is the Nile Delta which included world-class gas discoveries.
The Cenozoic petroleum systems of the Middle East are significant yet poorly understood. The workshop is seeking submissions to improve the knowledge gap in the Petroleum potential of this important geological time.
SESSION 4 - New Advancements in Petroleum Systems Modeling and Applications to the Decarbonization of Energy
Basin modeling is being used very successfully in the exploration for oil and gas for more than 40 years where the analysis of a functioning petroleum system helps clarify questions of source rock maturity, charge volumes and hydrocarbon fluid type. Today, basin modeling is fully integrated in industrial exploration workflows. In addition, applications have been extended to non-hydrocarbon fluids, to pore pressure prediction and reservoir quality prediction that all require the integration of the dynamics of a petroleum system and the notion of geological time into the analysis.
The recent effort of decarbonization of the energy led to new applications such as carbon sequestration, the search for geothermal energy, helium resources and the exploration for natural hydrogen that can benefit from a petroleum systems approach. New technological advances in modeling include inversion methods, quantification of uncertainties and other data science applications to forward modeling.
This session welcomes contributions of new approaches and alternative applications to basin modeling and petroleum systems analysis, including from software providers, academics and operators.