SEISMIC STRUCTURAL INTERPRETATION FOR TAREK FIELD IN MATRUH BASIN, NORTH WESTERN DESERT, EGYPT

Egyptian Western Desert has been emerged as a major hydrocarbon province in North Africa.
Most oil companies have concentrated exploration for hydrocarbons in the Western Desert on the Cretaceous
reservoirs. In recent years, giant fields have been discovered in the Jurassic strata, but significant resources continue to
be found in the Cretaceous reservoirs.Structural traps have been and still are the main type of traps in the northern
Western Desert. Folds formed due to basin inversion represent the common structural trap in the northern Western
Desert that are in the form of 3-way and 4-way dip closures. Tilted fault blocks also represent another type of structural
trap in the northern Western Desert . 2D seismic data have been used to shed light on the subsurface structural setting
and the hydrocarbons entrapment styles in the Tarek field of the Egyptian Western Desert. This is achieved through
integrated previous geological studies to understand the nature of the study area (Tarek Field). Then, structural seismic
interpretation isaccomplished through tracing different reflectors along the seismic sections and construction of
structural contour maps for these reflectors. Finally, 3D structural display shows the structural pattern of the study
area. The area is affected by NNE-SSW and NW-SE fault trends. The inversion of the study area in the Late Cretaceous-
Early Tertiary time resulted in reactivation of the old NNE-SSW oriented normal faults by reverse slip. Upward
propagation of the faults through the post-rift sediments led to the development of NNE-SSW oriented asymmetric,
doubly plunging anticlines, which represent fault propagation folds and roll-over structures. These structures may form
excellent hydrocarbon traps, as in the study area.