Structural modeling of the Alam EL-Bueib Formation in the jade oil field, Western Desert, Egypt

The Jade oil field is located in the Matruh Basin in the northern portion of the Western Desert, Egypt. The region is one of the most productive areas for hydrocarbons in Egypt. The main producing reservoir in the area is the Cretaceous Alam-El Bueib Formation. The main goal of the present study was done through construction structural model using Petrel (TM) Schlumberger software by integrating thirty 2D seismic sections with eight digital well logs. Two-way time and depth structure maps were achieved, besides the geological cross section. Seismic and well log data are used to identify and correlate the four sandstone units of the Alam EL-Bueib Formation, AEB-3A, AEB-3D, AEB-3E and AEB-3G, where only the AEB-3D to 3G sandstones are hydrocarbon-bearing in the Jade oil field. The Alam EL-Bueib Formation in the Jade oil field structure dips slightly to the northwest as part of an anticlinal fold bounded by a northeast-southwest striking reversed fault, the main tectonic element of the study area. This fault was caused by compressional forces during the Syrian arc movement in Late Cretaceous. The area east of the main fault shows antithetic Riedel-shear faults (75 degrees to the main fault) and a corresponding narrow graben to the south of the study area. The hydrocarbon-bearing Alam EL-Bueib Formation of the Jade oil field revealed the main trapping style following the tectonic evolution during Late Cretaceous. It so provides an excellent strategy in the well explored basins in the western Desert of Egypt.