oa Controls from the Hydrocarbon Entrapment in Burgan and Wara Formations in Kuwait Offshore

Kuwait Offshore lies to the east of Kuwait with an aerial extent of about 10,000 Km2. It is not<br>comprehensively explored and only a few wells have been drilled to explore Cretaceous structural<br>prospects. The objective of the study is to bring out the depositional environments, distribution of<br>lithofacies and their control on hydrocarbon entrapment for Burgan and Wara Formations.<br>Burgan Formation of Lower to Middle Albian age is a thick clastic sequence, which is deposited in a<br>fluvial to marginal marine environment. The formation is broadly divided into two major sand packages<br>separated by a major shale unit. The lower sand package corresponds to lowstand systems tract while<br>the upper package corresponds to the highstand systems tract as well as lowstand clastics of the<br>overlying sequence. In upper Burgan, the fluvial and tidal sands that filled incised valleys are prolific oil<br>producers in the onshore. Reservoir quality deteriorates in the seaward direction as the valley systems<br>thin and become mud prone. Wara Formation of Cenomanian age is also a clastic sequence and<br>comprises of sandstone with interbedded shales deposited in an inner to middle shelf environment. The<br>formation corresponds to highstand systems tract of the sequence initiated in Upper Burgan. The thin<br>sandstone beds in Wara Formation are also known commercial producers in onshore.<br>Prospectivity analysis of the Burgan and Wara formations in Offshore Kuwait has indicated that<br>hydrocarbon occurrences are controlled by temporal and spatial variations of lithofacies. The study has<br>indicated that the Kuwait Bay appears to be the most prospective for exploration of these reservoirs in<br>terms of development of favourable lithofacies associations occurring in favourable structural setting.<br>High resolution sequence stratigraphy and depositional modeling is key to exploration of these<br>formations.