New Exploration Plays in Sohar Basin UAE

The Sohar Basin, located offshore the East Coast of the Arabian Peninsula, is a long-ignored area adjacent to the super basins of the Arabian Plate. Three dry wells were drilled in the northern Sohar Basin between 1969 and 1980 on structural anomalies. In 2001, a 3D survey was acquired over the UAE portion of the basin in the belief that the Arabian Platform Carbonates extended from the Rub al Khali Basin, beneath the Semail Ophiolite to the east. This study depicts how this legacy 3D dataset has been re-evaluated to define new prospectivity. A tectonic history defined by a sequence stratigraphic and structural interpretation of the 3D data as well as a basin modeling exercise has revealed a previously unexamined petroleum system. These include Miocene to Eocene-aged turbidite channel and fan complexes representing potential reservoir units. In the deeper section, high reflectivity layers within ‘mini-basins’, have seismic characteristics consistent with organic rich source rock layers. Basin modelling indicates that these layers would be mature for hydrocarbon generation. Shallow bright spots provide evidence for hydrocarbon migration along deep-seated faults.