Source Rock Evaluation through Well Logging Data and Pyrolysis Analysis: A Study of the Kurra Chine Formation in Well-6, Peshkhabir Oil Field, Kurdistan, Iraq
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23918/eajse.v11i2p8Keywords:
Well Logging Data, Rock-Eval Pyrolysis, Source Rock Evaluation, Peshkhabir Oil Field, Kurra Chine Formation, Northern IraqAbstract
The volume of hydrocarbon exists in the reservoir is directly related to the quantity of the hydrocarbon generated and expelled from the source rock. Accurate evaluation of source rock is important for hydrocarbon production planning and subsurface resource prediction. This study evaluates the source rocks of the shale zones within the Kurra Chine Formation using well-logging data and Rock-Eval pyrolysis analysis for Well-6 in the Peshkhabir Oil Field, located at Zakho, Northern Iraq. Comprehensive well logging data of Well-6 in the Peshkhabir Oil Field, and sixteen cutting samples were selected for this study. The result indicates that the total organic carbon wt.% of Well-6 ranges from 0.39 - 1.62 %, classifying the Kurra Chine as a good source rock in the shale zones. The Generation potential ranges from 1.02 – 6.562, additionally confirming the source rock potentiality through wireline logs. The S1 value for most samples ranged between 2.68 – 3.16, indicating favourable hydrocarbon presence and suggesting a good quality source rock. The level of maturity, represented by thermal maturity, ranges between 400 °C – 420 °C for most samples, indicating them as immature to marginally mature. Furthermore, the kerogen types predominately fall under type III, based on the relationship between hydrogen index and thermal maturity.
References
[1] Magoon, L.B. and Dow, W.G. the petroleum system-from source to trap. AAPG memoir 60, 655 p. - references - scientific research publishing. 1994.
[2] Tissot, B.P. and Welter, D.H. Petroleum Formation and occurrence [Preprint], 1984. https://doi.org10.1007/978-3-642-87813-8.
[3] Tyson, R.V. Sedimentary Organic Matter-Organic Facies and Palynofacies. Chapman and Hall, London, 615.1994. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-011-0739-6_5
[4] Peters, K. E., Cassa, M. R. Applied source rock geochemistry, chapter 5. In Magoon L. B. and W. G. Dow, eds, the petroleum system-from source to trap: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Memoir, 60, 93-120. 1994.
[5] Sadooni FN. Petroleum prospects of Upper Triassic carbonates in northern Iraq. Journal of Petroleum Geology. 1995 Apr;18(2):171-90. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-5457.1995.tb00896.x
[6] Al-Ameri T, Al-Dolaimy Q, Al-Khafaji A. Palynofacies and hydrocarbon generation potential of the upper Triassic Kurrachine Formation and lower part of the Baluti Formation, Mosul Block, Northwestern Iraq. Arabian Journal of Geosciences. 2009 Aug 1;2(3). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-009-0041-5
[7] Aqrawi AA, Goff JC, Horbury AD, Sadooni FN. The petroleum geology of Iraq. Beaconsfield, UK: Scientific press; 2010.
[8] Edilbi AN, Kolo K, Muhammed NR, Yasin SR, Mamaseni WJ, Akram R. Source rock evaluation of shale intervals of the Kurra Chine Formation, Kurdistan Region-Iraq: An organic geochemical and basin modeling approach. Egyptian Journal of Petroleum. 2019 Dec 1;28(4):315-21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2019.06.003
[9] Lunn GA. Dating and correlation of the Baluti Formation, Kurdistan, Iraq: Implications for the regional recognition of a Carnian “marker dolomite”, and a review of the Triassic to Early Jurassic sequence stratigraphy of the Arabian Plate. Journal of Petroleum Geology. 2020 Jan;43(1):109-25. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpg.12752
[10] Al-Dolaimy AM, Al-Beyati FM, Al-Mallah AY. Distribution of Steranes and Triterpanes Biomarkersas Indication of Depositional Environment and Maturity of Sargelu and Kurrachine Formations in Different Wells Northern Iraq. The Iraqi Geological Journal. 2021 Mar 27:87-100.https://doi.org/10.46717/IGJ.54.1C.7MS-2021-03-27
[11] Baban DH, Ahmed SM. Source rocks’ potentiality of the Sargelu Formation (Middle Jurassic) in the Taq Taq Oilfield, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. The Iraqi Geological Journal. 2021 Nov 26:59-85. https://doi.org/10.46717/igj.54.2E.5Ms-2021-11-21
[12] Al-Dolaimy AM, Al-Mallah AY, Abdel-Fattah MI, Al-Beyati FM. Source rock characteristic of Sargelu and Kurrachine formations from the selected wells in northern Iraq. The Iraqi Geological Journal. 2021 Jul 26:60-74. https://doi.org/10.46717/igj.54.2A.5Ms-2021-07-26
[13] Al-Hamdani, A.M., Ali, M.S., Al Dabagh, M.M. Microfacies Valuation of Kurra Chine Formation (Late Triassic) and Scenario of Depositional Basin Development in Northern and North Western Iraq. Journal of Petroleum Research & Studies, 2021 (33). https://www.iasj.net/iasj/article/221808
[14] Balaky SM, Al-Dabagh MM, Asaad IS, Tamar-Agha M, Ali MS, Radwan AE. Sedimentological and petrophysical heterogeneities controls on reservoir characterization of the Upper Triassic shallow marine carbonate Kurra Chine Formation, Northern Iraq: Integration of outcrop and subsurface data. Marine and Petroleum Geology. 2023 Mar 1;149:106085.. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2022.106085
[15] Aswad MK, Naqshabandi SF, Omer MF. Kurra Chine Formation: Evaluation of Source Rock, Based on Rock-Eval Pyrolysis Analysis Integrated by Selected Wells and Outcrop Samples in Iraq's Kurdistan Region. The Iraqi Geological Journal. 2023 Aug 25:37-50.http://dx.doi.org/10.46717/igj.56.2B.3ms-2023-8-31
[16] Aswad MK, Omer MF, Naqshabandi SF. Examining the impact of cement on porosity evolution in the upper Triassic Kurra Chine Formation of Sirwan Valley, Kurdistan region, Iraq: a study integrating cathodoluminescence and scanning electron microscopy. Kuwait Journal of Science. 2024 Jan 1;51(1):100107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kjs.2023.07.013
[17] Aswad MK, Omer MF, Naqshabandi SF. Unlocking the hydrocarbon potential: Formation evaluation and petrophysical properties of the upper Triassic Kurra Chine Formation in Sarta Oil Field, Kurdistan Region, Northern Iraq. Heliyon. 2024 Feb 15;10(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25173
[18] Aswad MK, Naqshabandi SF, Omer MF. Palynofacies analysis and depositional environment of the upper Triassic Kurra Chine Formation: integrated by samples from sarta and Tawke oil fields and outcrop samples from sirwan valley in the kurdistan region, northern Iraq. InIOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 2024 Feb 1 (Vol. 1300, No. 1, p. 012033). IOP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1300/1/012033
[19] Bellen, R.C., Dunnington, H.V., Wetzel, R., Morton, D.M. Lexique Stratigraphic International Paris, V. ІІІ, Asia, Fascicule 10a Iraq, 333. 1959.
[20] Aqrawi AA. Paleozoic stratigraphy and petroleum systems of the western and southwestern deserts of Iraq. GeoArabia. 1998 Apr 1;3(2):229-48. https://doi.org/10.2113/geoarabia0302417.
[21] Peters KE. Guidelines for evaluating petroleum source rock using programmed pyrolysis. AAPG bulletin. 1986 Mar 1;70(3):318-29. https://doi.org/10.1306/94885688-1704-11D7-8645000102C1865D
[22] Asquith G., and Krygowski A., Basic well log analysis, No.16, in: second ed.AAPG Methods in Exploration Series, The American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa, 2004. ISBN: 0-89181-667-4. https://doi.org/10.1306/Mth3425
[23] Hunt, J. M. Petroleum Geochemistry and Geology, 2nd ed. W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, 743. 1996.
[24] Walters CC. The origin of petroleum. InPractical advances in petroleum processing 2006 (pp. 79-101). New York, NY: Springer New York. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-0-387-25789-1_2
Downloads
Published
Data Availability Statement
the data will be available for all readers
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Mahdi Khairi Aswad
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Eurasian J. Sci. Eng is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY-4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
