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The Potential Areas for Khuff Gas Reservoirs in the Arabian Peninsula

a non-Exclusive Report

Foreword:

GCC countries has 1463 trillion cubic feet of Gas which comprise about 26% of the total gas reserves of the top 10 countries in the world. Qatar with 870 trillion cubic feet is the third largest proven reserves in the world. Saudi Arabia with 300 trillion cubic feet rank as 6th and UAE with 215 trillion cubic feet lands on the 8th. Qatar’s large revenue of gas export and petrochemicals reach 60% of its GDP. Saudi Arabia consumes all its natural gas into feed stocks of the petrochemical products through SABIC. The UAE chemical industry’s contribution was 52% of manufacturing revenue. Oman’s manufacturing sector contributed 51% of the added value. Kuwait produces ethylene, polyethylene, urea and other, increasing every year. The Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) has highlighted in 2016 the GCC chemical industry contributed around $43.8 billion to the GCC economy.

These gas reserves can be enhanced through the help of this report. The compilation and maintenance of Comprehensive Regional Geological studies are essential for screening new prospects, maximizing exploration & appraisal potential, development planning or post-abandonment analysis, and improving interpretation and analysis for future success. Prior to drilling, a regional study will help guide companies’ geoscientists to locate better facies development for gas or oil accumulation. After drilling and undertaking the necessary analysis; new information will feed the existing reservoir quality model, mapping, isopaching and modifying reservoir zonation in order to locate future drilling areas and avoid low reservoir quality locations. In this context, a major comprehensive regional non-exclusive report has been completed by Sandroses Geological and Petroleum Consultancies for the Khuff Formation. A more detailed exclusive report of each country can be produced upon request.

Report Outlines:

The author, Ibrahim Al Jallal bring his 25 years’ experience with Saudi Aramco, and his PhD dissertation which focused on Khuff Formation potential in the Ghawar Field, then extended to include the Gulf Countries. This non-exclusive report is a collective work of published papers and posters of the Khuff during the author’s work. The author spent significant time collecting, collating and preparing Khuff documents, maps and figures in one of the most comprehensive non-exclusive reports to be published on the subject. It is intended to assist companies working in Gulf countries and to help the oil and gas industry in finding more Khuff gas. The author, regionally extended his original Ghawar study to encompass Gulf countries, including the western sector of Iran. So, the report includes where applicable published data from surrounding countries to encompass the overall regional setting of the Khuff Formation. The report will summarize in one single volume many years of hard work and interpretation of the Khuff Formation on a regional scale. The subjects discussed in the report are listed in the table of contents and a list of figures hereafter.

What can you get out of this report?

It is a guide for Khuff Reservoirs in the Gulf to show on a map, the best locations to drill for Gas and provides:

A guide for the companies which have already concession areas or are planning to acquire new concessions for the best places to drill for Khuff gas.
An explanation on: Why Qatar has the largest reserves of Khuff gas, why Ghawar area has variable quality, why Bahrain and Oman have high porosity but with less gas and why Khuff in Kuwait is tight;
A comprehensive information about Khuff Formation, Platform and Depositional setting, Diagenesis, Depth, Regional Reservoir Facies, Structural and Stratigraphic traps location.
A Regional understanding of Khuff facies distribution and depositional system.
Insights to digenetic effects on the Khuff.
Reservoir development settings of the Khuff and ways to predict good locations for future drilling.

Introduction to the Report

This non-exclusive report is based on the collection of the author’s published work about the Khuff, principally from papers on GEO 94 “ The Khuff Formation: Its Reservoir Potential in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Countries, Depositional and Stratigraphic Approach, presented in the GEO 1994. The other paper is presented in the 6th ADIPEC, 1994 “Stratigraphy, Depositional Environments and Reservoir Potential of the Khuff Formation in the Arabian Gulf Countries. A third paper as a co-author “Accurate reservoir characterization to reduce drilling risk in Khuff-C carbonate, Ghawar Field, Saudi Arabia, 2002, GeoArabia. Other published reports are mentioned in the references page and other papers.

The work includes a comprehensive effort of the author from his original work during his research for the PhD dissertation “ Depositional Environments, Diagenesis and Reservoir Characteristics of the Permian Khuff Formation in Eastern Saudi Arabia”, 1990, at Imperial College, University of London, 1990.

This original background of the author and his on hand experience at Saudi Aramco for 25 years and beyond as independent consultant were intellectually exerted to produce this Khuff Regional Reservoir prediction in the Area. The work is based on solid information which includes, the depositional settings of the Khuff Formation, mapping of facies, isopaching the thickness, porosity and major cement. Relating this information to the regional sea advances and depositional settings with related facies trends, the author was able to produce on maps, areas of excellent reservoir potential in the Gulf Countries, based on areas of good porosity zones, related to the porous reservoir rocks regional outlines of the Khuff.

What makes this work exceptional is that it has been done without looking at many existing Gas Fields in the area, when it is complete, the work has been proved to be exceptionally correct. How is that? The mapping of this work was overlaid on the map of the existing fields of sweet gas, sour gas and dry holes. The results are accurate, the maps of existing gas fields fall within the same zones of predicted high porosity, the sour Gas Fields fall in the mapped anhydrite cement richer zones and the dry areas fall in the tight zones.

This mapping guide is an excellent tool to locate new good areas of the Khuff gas and also can be used to choose the areas of sweeter gas and avoiding sour gas areas and re-penetrate previously not Khuff penetrated areas.

Final note: The report is non-exclusive use for companies and very useful in general. However, for detailed particular areas, the author, upon request, can make an exclusive report based on detailed work on each area. The new data of drilling on the Khuff in each area will enhance the accuracy of the interpretation.

Executive Summary

This report has been commissioned to provide an analysis and better understanding of the Khuff Formation in all aspects. This analysis is essential in locating new prospects and potential areas for the gas throughout the Arabian Gulf Countries. It provides data which is very helpful in minimizing the risk of future drilling in targeted areas. The expertise and meaningful experiences of the author ensures the accuracy of the data provided in this report, accordingly, the interpretation is mostly accurate. This highly-end interpretation is an excellent tool not only to locate new good areas for Khuff gas but also can be used to choose the areas of sweeter gas and avoid sour gas areas and re-penetrate previously non-Khuff penetrated areas.

The author, Dr. Ibrahim Al Jallal exerted full effort for this report from his 25 years of experience at Saudi Aramco and beyond as a consultant, he has built upon his PhD dissertation which focused on Khuff Formation potential in the Ghawar Field, Saudi Arabia. This non-exclusive report is a collective work of published papers and posters of the Khuff. These papers and posters were approved by Saudi Aramco and the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals of Saudi Arabia at the time of publication and because these publications were scattered, the author spent significant time gathering, collating and preparing Khuff documents, maps and figures in one of the most comprehensive non-exclusive reports about the subject. It is intended to assist companies working in Gulf countries and to help the oil and gas industry community in finding more gas in this very important formation. The author, regionally extended his original Ghawar study to include Gulf countries, including the western sector of Iran. So, the report includes where applicable published data from surrounding countries to encompass the overall regional setting of the Khuff Formation. The report will summarize in one single volume many years of hard work and interpretation of the Khuff Formation on a regional scale.

This report will be able to provide you the following:

Guide the companies working in the Gulf Countries or are planning to acquire new concessions, to locate the best reservoir areas where to drill for the Khuff Gas.
Locations of excellent to poor reservoir areas for Khuff were mapped, guided by the Porosity scale and the anhydrite amount.
Categories of Potential areas were determined and located. They range from excellent to poor reservoir quality, their locations are mapped for each country.
The Author’s view relating to the four major factors that control the development of better facies include:

1. The overall depositional setting, the better reservoir areas accumulate at the better facies of grainstone at the shelf edges, the lagoonal suitable for sucrosic dolomite development.

2. The mapping of the porosity footage and isopach of the Khuff.

3. The regional mapping of anhydrite footage and its diagenetic effects on the cementation of the Khuff facies and sourness of the gas quality.

4. The experience gained from the detailed diagenesis studies of the Khuff and its effect on the development of reservoir facies, either increasing or decreasing the reservoir quality. The integration of core description from core scale to thin section scales, wire line logs and seismic lead to define the better reservoir facies to reduce drilling risks.

This report will address the potential gas discoveries in structural and stratigraphic aspects within the Khuff Formation, as well as the diagenetic effects.
This interpretation “Model” has been proved, as the mapping was done first then overlaid on the existing Khuff Gas Field. The model fits very well, as the excellent sweet gas areas of the model fell on the existing best location for Khuff Gas such as Qatar’s North field. The variable reservoir quality areas of the model fell on Ghawar field at where; it is practically variable depending on the diagenetic effects. The sour gas area of the model fell on fields where sour gas exist such us Berri Field, Abu Sa’fah and Zakum in Abu Dhabi, and the poor areas of the model fell in the dry fields.
Detailed explanation why Qatar has the largest reserves of Khuff gas.
Detailed explanation why Ghawar area has variable quality.
Detailed explanation why UAE has wide areas of very good reservoir facies but limited areas to drill.
Detailed explanation why Oman and Bahrain has high Porosity but gives little gas.
Detailed explanation why Khuff formation in Kuwait is tight.
An overview of the Geology of the Khuff Formation.
A comprehensive idea on the platform configuration of the Khuff.
A Regional understanding of Khuff Facies distribution, depositional system and thickness.