Unconventional Oil Studies of Shilaif Source Rock in Western UAE

Abstract

Unconventional studies of UAE is in the early stage, especially in the western part, where the wells were drilled only for conventional oil & gas, with few unconventional data acquired. Shilaif formation is one of the main source rock of Cretaceous in western UAE. The main lithology of Shilaif are argillaceous limestone, lime mudstone and shale. Source rock geochemical analysis and basin modeling studies of western UAE show good source rock of Shilaif with high TOC, large thickness and high maturity mainly distribute in the south-east part of the study area, which is the high potential area for unconventional oil exploration. Based on the available 3D seismic data and log data, a series of techniques were used to predict the sweet spots of unconventional oil of Shilaif source rock, which includes the following main techniques: 1. 3D Seismic CRP Gather Conditioning; 2. Petrophysics Modeling; 3. Pre-stack Inversion; 4. Fracture Prediction; 5. Hydrocarbon Prediction; 6. Pore Pressure Prediction; 7. In-Situ Stress Analysis. Based on these techniques, one SW-NE belt of sweet spots were predicted in Lower Shilaif formation of the study area, with thick good source rock, high oil retention, high brittleness, high pressure, medium fracture and medium DHSR.