Stratigraphy, lithofacies distribution, and petroleum potential of the Triassic strata of the northern Arabian plate

Triassic strata of the northern part of the Arabian plate mark the establishment of the Neo-Tethys passive margin. This ocean first opened in the western part of the Mediterranean region directly after the Hercynian orogeny. The strata were deposited on a shallow carbonate platform surrounded by clastic-evaporitic lagoons and continental fluvial and eolian settings. The rocks are divided between continental clastics (such as the Budra and the Ga'ara formations), continental-marine clastics and evaporites (such as the Mohilla, Abu Ruweis, Beduh, and Baluti formations) and epicontinental marine facies (such as the Saharonim, Salit, and Kurra Chine formations). These settings are comparable to those of the German Triassic and have matching lithofacies and eustatic sea level changes. The succession has been divided into four high-frequency sequences dominated by highstand systems tract carbonates and highstand systems tract-lowstand systems tract evaporites and clastics: the Mulussa Formation, the Kurra Chine dolomite and oolitic limestones, the clastics in the Euphrates-Ana h graben in Syria and Iraq, and the Triassic buildups in the northern parts of the Levant form attractive hydrocarbon reservoirs when they are overlain by the Triassic-Jurassic evaporite sequence and are in communication with Silurian source rocks. In Syria, the Kurrachine Formation contains both source and reservoir rocks. On the Aleppo plateau, this formation is believed to lie at the beginning of the thermal maturation window, whereas in the areas of Jebbissa, Soukhne, and Souedie, it is in the mature or overmature windows. The Triassic strata produced fair amounts of light oil, gas, and condensates from some fields in Syria and Iraq with a high potential of gas and condensate accumulations in the Levant region.