Ahmed Askar Al Ahmed
University of Al Nahrain, Iraq
Title: Geochemical characteristics of Amara crude oils within Zagros fold belt, South Iraq
Biography
Biography: Ahmed Askar Al Ahmed
Abstract
A comprehensive geochemical study shows genetic relationships among 15 crude oil samples recovered from different formations, ages of marine carbonate and non-degraded. The levels of maturation are relatively varied for each sample from low to moderate, sourced from Jurassic age. Various oil fields in South Iraq; Al-Fakka (FK-2, FK-3 & FK-8), Buzerkan (BU-11, BU-20), Abo Gharab (AG-1, AG-7 & AG-10), Halfaya (HF-1 & HF-2) and Amara (AM-3) oil fields. These samples suggest the ages and paleo-environments of their source rocks. The samples were collected from Jurassic to tertiary reservoirs of 15 developed oil fields where about 15 billion barrels of recoverable oil have been reserved. The oil density varies in rather wide range, between 12.2 and 39.2_API. Twelve oil samples are ˂25o API referring to heavy oil and only oil samples recovered from Hf-1, Am-3 and Bu-11 which are 25-35o API are medium oil. Canonial Variables (CV) according to the Tissot and Welte’s classification (1984), most of the oils can be classified as “high sulfur†oils/indicate that these samples are of marine origin. Stable Carbon Isotope Composition C15+ saturate and aromatic is relatively approximate values giving good supporting evidences for the same family which is Middle Jurassic Age (sourced from Sargelu Formation), generated within the sedimentation of the bituminous calcareous shale and Limestone in Mesopotamian basin extends from North-South Iraq. This basin consider as one of the most formative, potential and promising basin in the Middle East according to the typical total petroleum system elements. This family was generated by marine carbonate-intra shelf sub basin source rocks, occurring in Jurassic-Cretaceous-Neogene reservoir rocks in both Zagros fold belt and Mesopotamian basin which are geochemically similar to the extracts from Middle-Upper Jurassic age (Sargelu and Naokelekan formations), yielding the majority of petroleum oil and gas fields in north and south Iraq.