Preliminary investigation of the hydrocarbon generation potential from the post-rift Abbas shale Formation (Pliocene) in
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ORIGINAL PAPER-EXPLORATION GEOLOGY
Preliminary investigation of the hydrocarbon generation potential from the post‑rift Abbas shale Formation (Pliocene) in the Tihamah Basin, south‑eastern Yemeni Red Sea Mohammed Hail Hakimi1 · Abbas F. Gharib2 · Nor Syazwani Z. Abidin3 · Madyan M. A. Yahya1,4 Received: 2 July 2020 / Accepted: 9 November 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Pliocene shales included in the post-rift Abbas Formation were recovered from an exploratory well (Kathib-01) in the Tihamah Basin and geochemically analyzed. A preliminary evaluation of the organic facies of the Abbas shales and their petroleum generation potential was conducted based on basic organic geochemical results. Most Abbas shale samples had total organic carbon (TOC) contents 1%, had a relatively good potential. Overall, the Rock–Eval hydrogen index values of the shales analyzed were between 96 and 234 mg of hydrocarbon per gram of TOC (mg HC/g TOC), indicating two dominant organic facies: types III and II/III kerogen, which indicate the presence of mainly gas- and oil-prone source rocks. We conclude that the Pliocene Abbas shales in the Tihamah Basin are still in a very early-mature stage (with respect to the oil window) and, hence, have not generated petroleum yet. Keywords Pliocene shale · Abbas Formation · Petroleum generation potential · Tihamah Basin · Yemeni Red Sea
Introduction The hydrocarbon exploration history of the Tihamah Basin, which is located in the south-eastern Yemeni Red Sea (Fig 1a), began many years ago. In 1960, around 12 exploration wells were drilled in the onshore and offshore portions of the Tihamah Basin, Yemen (Fig 1b). These wells are operated by multiple petroleum-operating companies, such as Mecom, Hunt, Total, and Shell. Moreover, the presence of oil seeps in the As-Salif peninsula, its onshore migration, and the presence of oil and gas in several onshore * Mohammed Hail Hakimi [email protected] 1
Geology Department, Faculty of Applied Science, Taiz University, 6803 Taiz, Yemen
2
Oil and Gas Economics, Imam Jaafar AI-Sadiq University, Kirkuk, Iraq
3
Geosciences Department, Faculty of Science and Information Technology, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
4
Department of Petroleum Geology and Sedimentation, Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of King Abdulaziz, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
and offshore wells in the Tihamah Basin (e.g., SPT 1994), suggested the presence of several proven source rocks and encouraged further petroleum geochemistry studies. Several geochemistry works have been conducted on shale rocks contained in the corresponding (syn- and post-rift) sedimentary successions. A recent study by Hakimi et al. (2016) indicated that the syn-rift Salif Formation contains organic-rich shales, which are considered the main source rocks in the Tihamah Basin. The Salif organic-rich shales are characterized by a relatively high total organic carbon (TOC) content (> 3%) and mainly type II and mixed II–III kerogens, with a minor contribution
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