Geologic setting and hydrocarbon potential of north Sinai, Egypt

The Sinai Peninsula is bounded by the Suez Canal and Gulf of Suez rift to the west, the transform Dead Sea-Aqaba rift to the east and the Mediterranean passive margin to the north. The stratigraphic section in North Sinai ranges in age from Precambrian to Recent and varies in thickness between 2000 m of mostly continental facies in the south to almost 8000 m of marine facies in the north. Four main tectonic trends reflect the influence of regional tectonic movements on the study area: 1) ENE-WSW-trending normal faults at the Triassic, Jurassic and Early Cretaceous levels; 2) NE-SW-trending anticlines at the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary levels; 3) NNW-SSE-trending normal faults at the Oligocene and Early Miocene levels; and 4) NNW-SSE-trending transform faults during the Late Miocene. Several oil and gas fields have been discovered in North Sinai since 1955. The Oligo-Miocene shales, the Early Cretaceous carbonates and the Jurassic fine clastics are rich source rocks yielding oil and gas in deep source kitchens. The sandstones of the Miocene, Oligocene, Cretaceous and Jurassic ages, the Jurassic carbonates and the Cretaceous carbonates form the reservoirs in north Sinai. The intraformational Mesozoic and Cenozoic shales and dense carbonates and the middle Miocene anhydrite form the seals. Structural, stratigraphic and combination traps are encountered in the study area. The north Sinai district has a good oil exploration potential. Only a few plays have been tested.