Regional Hydrocarbon Charge in the Sirte Basin, Libya – Integration of Geochemistry, Basin Modeling and Regional Geology

A regional evaluation of hydrocarbon charge was undertaken in the Sirte Basin, Libya in order to improve the understanding of the general hydrocarbon charge system and to determine robustness of hydrocarbon charge in different areas in the basin. Geochemical data derived from crude oils and source rock extracts as well as source rock samples were integrated with regional map-based charge modeling and paleofacies mapping. Four main oil families and additional sub-families were identified, and correlated with the source rocks. Integration with maturity and lithofacies maps highlights that the Upper Cretaceous Rachmat Formation source rock appears to be the principal contributor to the resource-base (as opposed to the Sirte Shale). Moreover, this approach also reveals that the East Sirte Basin is more robust in terms of hydrocarbon charge than the West Sirte Basin.