U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

The Red Sea Basin Province: Sudr-Nubia(!) and Maqna(!) PetroleumSystems1

Sandra J. Lindquist, Consultant toU.S. Geological Survey, Denver, COWorld Energy ProjectOctober, 1998

USGS Open-File Report 99-50-A

|The entire Open-File Report 99-50-A can be successfully viewed or downloaded(2.8MB), for use with Adobe Acrobat Reader (version3.0 or later). If you do not already have Acrobat Reader version 3.0 or later, you may download the latest version here.FOREWORDABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONPROVINCE GEOLOGY        ProvinceBoundary and Geographic Setting       PoliticalEntities       GeologicSetting        ExplorationHistory           Gulfof Suez (120+ fields or discovery wells)            WesternSide of Red Sea (4 fields)           EasternSide of Red Sea (2 fields)PETROLEUM OCCURRENCESOURCE ROCK       CampanianSudr (Brown/Duwi) Source Rock of the Gulf of SuezMiddleMiocene Maqna Source Rock of the Red Sea and Southern Gulf of Suez       OtherSource RocksOVERBURDEN ROCK       Thickness       ThermalGradientTRAP STYLE OF OIL AND GAS FIELDS       KnownTraps and Their Timing       UndiscoveredTrapsASSESSMENT UNITS       Sudr-Nubia(!)       Maqna(!)PROVINCE AREAS EVALUATED ASTOO HIGH RISK FOR ASSESSMENT PURPOSESSELECTED REFERENCESFIGURES1.   Pre-riftRed Sea stratigraphy 2.   Syn- and post-rift Red Sea stratigraphy3a. Index map of Red Sea region3b. Sudr-Nubia(!) petroleum system map3c. Maqna(!) petroleum system map4.  Gulf of Suez structural cross section5.  Field-size histogram by petroleumsystem 6a. Sudr-Nubia(!) burial history chart 6b. Maqna(!) burial history chart 7a. Sudr-Nubia(!) events chart 7b. Maqna(!) events chartTABLES1. Fields and reservesby petroleum system 2. Reserves by reservoir rockFOREWORDThis report is a product of the World Energy Project ofthe U.S. Geological Survey, in which the world has been divided into 8regions and 937 geologic provinces for purposes of assessment of globaloil and gas resources (Klett and others, 1997). These provinces have beenranked according to the discovered petroleum volumes within each; high-rankingprovinces (76 "priority" provinces exclusive of the U.S.) andothers with varying types and degrees of intrigue (26 "boutique"provinces exclusive of the U.S.) were chosen for appraisal of oil and gasresources. The petroleum geology of these non-U.S. priority and boutiqueprovinces are described in this series of reports. A detailed report containingthe assessment results for all provinces will be available separately.The Total Petroleum System concept is the basisfor this assessment. A total petroleum system includes the essentialelements and processes, as well as all genetically related hydrocarbonsthat occur in petroleum shows, seeps and accumulations (discovered andundiscovered), whose provenance is a pod or related pods of mature source rock(concept modified from Magoon and Dow, 1994). The minimum petroleumsystem is that portion of the total petroleum system for which thepresence of essential elements and processes has been proved. Theassessment unit is a mappable volume of rock within the total petroleumsystem, sufficiently homogeneous in terms of geology, exploration strategyand risk characteristics to constitute a single population with respectto criteria used for the chosen methodology of resource assessment. Assessmentunits are considered established if they contain more than 13 fields,frontier if they contain 1-13 fields and hypothetical ifthey contain no fields.A unique, eight-digit numeric code identifies each assessmentunit with respect to region, province, and petroleum system. The firstdigit is the region number, the next three digits the province number,the next two digits the total petroleum system number, and the final twodigits the assessment unit number. The codes for the regions and provinceswere established, listed and mapped in Klett and others, 1997.Figures in this report that show boundaries of total petroleumsystems, assessment units, and pods of active source rock were compiledusing geographic information information (GIS) software.   Political boundariesand cartographic representations on these figures were taken with permissionfrom ESRI's (Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.) ArcWorld 1:3 million digital coverage. The boundaries haveno political significance and are displayed for general reference only.Oil and gas field centerpoints shown on these figures are reproduced with permission fromPetroconsultants, 1996. Also included as a figure is an events chart thatshows the time of deposition of essential rock units; the time processes(such as trap formation) necessary for the accumulation of hydrocarbons;the critical moment in the petroleum system; and the preservation time.The format is that proposed by Magoon and Dow (1994)._____________________1Sudr-Nubia(!)TotalPetroleum System (# 207101) - Gulf of Suez and northwestern Red Sea; Egypt;Red Sea Basin Province (2071); Middle East and North Africa (Region 2). Maqna(!) Total Petroleum System (#207102) - southern Gulf of Suezand Red Sea; Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea (Ethiopia), Yemen, and Saudi Arabia;Red Sea Basin Province (2071); Middle East and North Africa (Region 2).
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[TOPof REPORT]    [To NextPage]    [ToWorld Energy Project]

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report99-50-A




---