New structural findings in Bijeel - Aqra vicinity, Kurdistan region of Iraq: Insight into oil exploration and hydrocarbon maturation

The southern vicinity of Aqra town; Iraqi Kurdistan Region is characterized by hilly morphology and low mountainous relief; this area is a promising oil district with many oil fields. The widely exposed rocks in the study belong to the Bai Hassan Formation (Pliocene – Pleistocene), older rocks have rare exposures and are restricted within the core of some anticlines, especially east of the Greater Zab River. The economic importance of this area mandates updated structural investigations accompanied by the potential rock units that may comprise the petroleum systems and their elements. The performed structural study used high-quality satellite images (ESSRI, 2013. ArcGIS REST Services Directory) to deduce the structural forms in the studied area. A stratigraphic appraisal of the geologic formations was also conducted to define the elements of petroleum systems of the study area. The study area was previously known to have only four anticlines (Bijeel, Rovia, Sarta, and Bawakhan anticlines), which were described and plotted on geological maps. Whereas, in the current study, six anticlines were recognized; they are from north to south: Bijeel, Mamandok, Grdashin, Rovia, Sarta, and Bawakhan anticlines, all these structures were verified upon checking field visits. The delineation of the axes of the recently recognized anticlines with their accurate locations and extensions, will furnish interesting data, especially, for oil exploration activities, and may add further reservoir discoveries. The definition of potential petroleum systems facilitated pointing out the stratal units (formations) that can make each element of the petroleum systems: source, reservoir, and sealing rocks.