Evaluation of the shale beds within Alam El Bueib Formation as an unconventional reservoir, Western Desert, Egypt

摘要

Within Alam El Bueib Formation (AEB), thin sandstone beds of approximately 15.24?m (~50?ft) total thickness, are considered to be the main conventional hydrocarbon-producing zone in the Western Desert. However, the shale intervals within the AEB can be an unconventional reservoir target. In this study, we focus on evaluating these shale units through geochemical analysis, to determine the total carbon, total sulfur, total organic carbon (TOC), and Rock–Eval pyrolysis. TOC is an essential property needed to determine the productive shale gas play. Total organic carbon combined with other geochemical data is important in evaluating the potential of shale gas reservoirs as it is related to the amount of kerogen, the produced hydrocarbon content. The TOC in the studied samples indicates poor to very good organic continent, while the hydrocarbon potentiality (S1 and S2) indicates poor source potential. The hydrogen index reflected kerogen type III/II. These data indicate that AEB Formation may be considered as a good source for generating hydrocarbons (mainly gas with minor amount of oil). The maturation evaluated by using “Tmax” indicates immature to marginally mature source rock, and production index ‘‘PI” represents oil and gas production in case of maturation.