The Messinian reservoir in El-Tamad oil field, Nile Delta, Egypt: Seismic interpretation and 3D modeling

El-Tamad Field, the first oil discovery in the onshore Nile Delta, is one of the promising areas in the Nile Delta for oil and gas. Therefore, thirty seismic lines, core data, and real-time flowline resistivity measurements of the Messinian Qawasim Formation were analyzed to characterize and model the reservoir in El-Tamad Field. The structure model shows that there are three main faults in the investigated area; F1 fault is a major growth fault trending E-W with a downthrown to the north, F2 trending NW-SE with a downthrown northeast, and the NE-SW trending F3 fault with a downthrown southeast. The depth-structure contour map on the reservoir's top shows that there is a rollover anticline fold formed at the downthrown side of the major growth fault. The petrophysical model illustrates that effective porosity increases towards both of southeastern and southwestern parts, while water saturation decreases in the southeastern part of the field, and the net-to-gross increase towards the center. Penetrating more vertical and sidetrack wells along the line connecting wells 1, 3, and 4 in El-Tamad Field, especially in the crest of the anticline fold that was recorded in the area is highly recomended. The spatial variation of the reservoir quality was attributed to the depositional setting, where many branches of larger distributary channels (sand facies) accumulated within a muddy estuary (shale facies) on the front of a bay-head delta.

Automated summary

El-Tamad Field is a promising area for oil and gas in the onshore Nile Delta, and its reservoir was characterized and modeled through the analysis of seismic lines, core data, and real-time flowline resistivity measurements. The study revealed three main faults, with one major growth fault causing the formation of a rollover anticline fold. The variation in reservoir quality was attributed to the depositional setting of sand facies and shale facies.