oa Characterization of Glaciogenic Reservoirs Using High-Resolution Quantitative Mineralogical and Textural Analysis of Drill Cuttings

In the past decade glaciogenic deposits from Palaeozoic age in North Africa and the Middle East have<br>been recognised as important reservoirs for hydrocarbons. However, the sedimentary system<br>associated with glaciers and ice-sheets is highly complex and still poorly understood. This often results<br>in large exploration and development risks due to potentially large uncertainties in the reservoir<br>stratigraphy, facies and 3D architecture.<br>Glaciogenic reservoirs are often associated with deeply incised valleys (i.e. tunnel valleys). These are<br>formed under ice-sheets by overpressured meltwater and can reach up to 600 meters in depth, tens of<br>kilometers in length and 5 kilometers in width. As the sedimentary mechanisms and depositional<br>environments can be highly variable, the subsequent infill of the valleys is vertically and laterally<br>extremely heterogeneous. The heterogeneity of the sedimentary infill often results in problematic<br>subsurface correlation. This is made even more difficult by the absence of biomarkers or marker beds<br>that can be traced on a regional scale.