Integrated sedimentological and petrophysical characterization of the Lower Cenomanian clastic Bahariya reservoir in Abu Gharadig Basin, Western Desert, Egypt

The Lower Cenomanian siliciclastic Bahariya Formation represents one of the main producing reservoirs in the north Western Egyptian Desert. A few previous subsurface studies exist that integrated core, petrographic, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses to study the reservoir quality of this formation. Consequently, the present study is carried out to fill this gap and outline the sedimentological, petrophysical, and digenetic characteristics of this siliciclastic reservoir in addition to the impact of these characteristics on reservoir quality. Detailed microscopic examination, XRD, SEM, and conventional core analyses were applied on the available cores. Five distinct microfacies types were petrographically identified, belonging to the arenite and wacke facies. These microfacies are represented by quartz arenite, subarkose, argillaceous quartz wacke, calcareous quartz wacke, and calcareous feldspathic greywacke. The formation was subjected to compaction and was affected by four types of cement; silica, calcite, kaolinite, and pyrite cementation. It has three types of porosities: primary intergranular and secondary porosity (microporosity and dissolution). The studied core samples of the Bahariya Formation are discriminated into two reservoir rock types (RRTs) and exhibit extreme heterogeneity. RRT1 comprises mainly quartz arenite, whereas RRT2 comprises quartz wacke. RRT1 has a reservoir quality of tight to poor due to porosity/permeability occluding by the different cementations. In contrast, RRT2 has a reservoir quality of tight to fair, despite the presence of the clay matrix. The tight to fair quality is possibly attributed to the dissolution of feldspars and authigenic clays. The Lower Cenomanian reservoir is considered a second cycle deposition and represents a tight to a fair quality reservoir in the studied wells.

Automated summary

The Lower Cenomanian siliciclastic Bahariya Formation in the north Western Egyptian Desert is considered a main producing reservoir, with previous studies focusing on reservoir quality. This study aimed to outline the sedimentological, petrophysical, and digenetic characteristics of the formation, identifying five microfacies types and three types of porosities. Additionally, two reservoir rock types were discriminated, showing extreme heterogeneity and varied reservoir quality.