Petroleum Play of Upper

Indus Basin
Presentor:
Rizwan Sarwar Awan
2013-MS-GS-02
Petroleum Play
Term describing Petroleum Exploration & Production on a Single Source
Rock
Production History
• First commercial well was drilled by Attock Oil Company at Khaur
Village upto depth of 214 ft at a thrusted anticline.
• Production at Khaur is from Sakesar and Murree Formation reservoirs
• Drilling from 1920-1935 resulted in discovery of Dhulian, a structural
dome 17 km southeast of Khaur
• Joya Mair in 1944, Balkassar in 1946, Karsal in 1956, and Tut in 1967
• The first commercial gas field—Adhi—was found in 1979
• The largest oil and gas field found to date is the Dhurnal field with
areal closure of 13.5 Square km’s and vertical closure of 500 m. The
initial in-place oil estimate was 102 MMBO (million barrels of oil)
Source Potential
• Paleocene Patala Formation appears to be the primary source of
hydrocarbons
• Other Source Rocks include:
• Late Proterozoic–Lower Cambrian Salt Range; Permian Wargal,
Sardhai, and Chhidru; Paleocene Lockhart and Eocene Patala
Formations (OGDC, 1996; and Quadri, 1996).
• Chichali and Lumshiwal Formations—may be the youngest mature
rocks with source potential throughout most of the Kohat Plateau.
Source Potential
Formation TOC Range Kerogen Type Field

Patala Formation (0.5 to >3.5)% Type II & III Dhurnal Oil Field

Wargal Limestone (1.0%)

Lockhart Limestone (1.4%)

(Jaswal and others, 1997).

Maturation
• Thermal maturities for Kohat-Potwar rocks range, from Ro 0.3 to
more than 1.6 %

• vitrinite reflectance of Tertiary rocks is 0.62 to 1.0 %

• 0.6 to 1.1 % for Cretaceous, 0.5 to 0.9 % for Jurassic, and 0.65 to 0.95
% for Permian rocks (Tobin and Claxton, 2000).
Generation & Migration
• Generation of hydrocarbons most likely began in Late Cretaceous time for
Cambrian through Lower Cretaceous source rocks and again from Pliocene
time to the present for younger source rocks (OGDC, 1996).
• Two distinct overpressuring regimes were reported by Law and others
(1998)
• A Neogene overpressuring regime was attributed to tectonic compression
and undercompaction, and a pre-Neogene overpressuring regime is
attributed to combined hydrocarbon generation and tectonic compression
• In many oil and gas fields, there are stacked source and reservoir rocks
possibly resulting in mixing of oils. Migration is primarily over short
distances updip and vertically into adjacent reservoirs and through faults
and fractures associated with plate collision and thrusting.
Reservoir Rocks
• Cambrian Kherwa, Kussak, and Jutana;
• Permian Tobra, Amb, and Wargal;
• Jurassic Datta;
• Cretaceous Lumshiwal;
• Paleocene Khairabad, Lockhart, Patala, and Nammal;
• Eocene Bhadrar, Chorgali, and Margala Hill Limestone; and
• Miocene Murree
(Khan and others, 1986; Petroconsultants, 1996)
Porosity & Permeability
• Sandstone porosities range 5-30 % and average12-16%

• Permeability ranges from less than 1 millidarcy (mD) to greater than

300 mD, with the average ranging from 4-17 mD (Khan and others,
1986).

• Hydrocarbons in the carbonate reservoirs are primarily from

tectonically induced fracture porosity on strike with structural trends
(Jaswal and others, 1997).
Traps & Seals
• Seals include:
• Fault truncations

• Interbedded shales

• Thick shales and clays of the Miocene and Pliocene Siwalik Group .
conclusion
• Source-rock quality in the Kohat-Potwar geologic province is fair to good in numerous
stratigraphic intervals

• Burial depths were in the past, and are today, great enough for continued generation
from many of these source intervals

• The Paleocene and Eocene source intervals have been in the oil and gas generation
window in parts of the Kohat-Potwar geologic province for as long as 15 m.y

• Reservoirs are of fair to very good quality and exist in close proximity to source rocks.

• Trap development, although widespread, was relatively late but coincided with
maximum burial and probably maximum hydrocarbon generation.
• Complex structures and overpressuring, although creating
exploration and drilling challenges, also offer additional opportunities

• Further opportunities also exist in the Kohat Plateau area where few
wells have been drilled, but source-rock quality or thickness may be
lower

• The northern folded zone also has potential, although structural

complexity makes exploration difficult
Petroleum Play of Joya Mair Field
• The Joya Mair Oilfield lies in the south-southeast of the Salt
Range-Potwar foreland basin (SRPFB)

• The Joya Mair Oilfield is characterized as structural trap in SRPFB

(Salt Range-Potwar foreland basin)

• Reserve estimation based on different techniques show

recoverable reserves of 23-25 MMBO, however, only 8 MMBO
reserves are recovered so far
Location of Joya Mair Oilfield
Hydrocarbon Potential
• SRPFB has several features suitable for hydrocarbon accumulation i-e
continental margin, thick marine sedimentary sequence,
potential source, reservoir and cap rocks

• The thick overburden of 3047 m of molasse provides burial depth and

optimum geothermal gradient for oil formation

• The SRPFB with an average geothermal gradient of 2°C/100 m is

producing oil from the depth of 2750-5200m
Reservoir
• The Cambrian, Permian, Jurassic, Paleocene and Eocene reservoirs are
producing oil in SRPFB

• The fractured carbonates of the Sakesar and Chorgali Formations are

the major producing reservoirs in Joya Mair area

• The intergranular, intraskeletal, dissolution and moldic porosity is

common in the upper part of Sakesar limestone

• Interskeletal and intraskeletal porosity is mainly common in Chorgali

and Sakesar limestones
• Core analysis from Meyal, Dhulian and Balkassar oilfields shows
that the primary porosity is less than 1% in the Chorgali and
Sakesar limestones
• The open hole logs of these units do not indicate good primary
porosity and permeability
• Secondary Porosities were developed due to dolomitization,
leaching of fossils and anhydrite moulds etc
• The fracture porosity is relatively higher in wells of northwestern
Potwar because the rocks deformed several times during the
Himalayan orogeny
• The fractures develop parallel, oblique and perpendicular to the
fold axes of anticlines
The Rose diagram showing the orientation of open fractures
Source
• The gray shales of the Mianwali, Datta and Patala Formations are
potential source rocks in SRPFB
• The oil shales of the Eocambrian Salt Range Formation include 27%
to 36% TOC in isolated pockets of shales, and are considered as the
source rock in SRPFB
Cap Rock
• The Kuldana Formation acts as cap for the reservoirs of Chorgali and
Sakesar limestones
• The clays and shales of the Murree Formation also provide efficient
vertical and lateral seal to Eocene reservoirs
Production Profile from 1944-1991(Chorgali/ Sakesar)
Joya Mair Triangle Zone
• The Joya Mair Triangle zone at surface is considered as an open
anticline

• The Chinji Formation is exposed in the core and the Nagri Formation
lies along the limbs of Triangle Zone

• It is a doubly plunging anticline and plunges 10° southwest and 4°

northeast

• The geologic, structural, borehole and seismic data show that the
Joya Mair structure is not a simple anticline
• It is a triangle zone, which is formed by the combination of Mengan
thrust and Joya Mair back-thrust

• The triangle zone is the result of southeast and northwest directed

Himalayan thrusting

• The hanging wall anticline along the southeastern flank of the

triangle zone has been drilled for oil and gas whereas the hanging
wall anticline along northwestern flank of the triangle zone is
untapped

• The structure geometry, source and cap rock of the northwestern

flank indicates that there is potential for hydrocarbon exploration
Oil Generation
• The Joya Mair area has Paleogene source rocks, required depth and
temperature for the generation of oil

• The Paleogene source rocks achieved required depth and 82 °C

temperature during the deposition of middle Chinji Formation

• The area remained in oil window up to 1.8 Ma

• Finally post 1.8 Ma uplift exhumed the Paleogene source rocks from
oil window leaving immature oil in Joya Mair Oilfield.
Migration and Accumulation
• The Eocene carbonates of Sakesar and Chorgali units show common
intergranular, intraskeletal, dissolution and moldic porosity
• Primary porosity of lime stone is very low which average from 1-3%
• The dominant secondary porosity in these carbonates is the fracture
porosity
• These fractures are calcite filled, quartz filled and open in nature
• The most significant fractures are the open fractures, which control
the dominant migration of oil in Joya Mair triangle zone
• The oil migrated and accumulated in the hanging wall anticlines of the
southeastern and northwestern flanks of the triangle zone
• The oil is trapped in the hanging wall anticlines because the clays of
Murree Formation lie in the foot wall and above the Paleogene
reservoir.
CONCLUSIONS
• The structure of Joya Mair Oilfield is recognized as a triangle zone

• The triangle zone is formed by the combination of thrust and back-

thrust

• The northwestern flank of the triangle zone was considered to be the

part of normal anticline

• The geologic, structural, seismic and borehole data show that the
northwestern flank is a hanging wall anticline, which can be targeted
for oil exploration in the Paleogene reservoirs
• The clays of the Murree Formation act as a seal along these faults

• The quartz filled, calcite filled and open fracture systems are recognized in
triangle zone

• The most significant fractures are the open fractures, which control the dominant
migration of oil in the triangle zone.

• The Paleogene source and reservoir rocks were in oil window for a very short
interval causing immature viscous oil
References
• Wandery C.J., Law B.E., and Shah H.A., 2004, Patala-Nammal Composite Total Petroleum System, Kohat-
Potwar Geologic Province, Pakistan
• Shami B.A., and Baig M.S., 2002, Geomodelling for the enhancement of Hydrocarbon Potential of Joya Mair
oil field, Potwar, Pakistan
• Baig, M.S. and Lawrence, R.D.,1987. Precambrian to early Paleozoic orogenesis in the Himalaya. Kashmir
J.Geol., 5: 1-22.
• Baig, M.S., 1990. Structure and geochronology, of pre-Himalayan and Himalayan orogenic events in the
northwest of Himalaya, Pakistan, with special reference to the Besham area. Ph.D. Thesis, Oregon State
Univ.,Corvallis, 394.
• Baig, M.S., 1991. Chronology of pre- Himalayan and Himalayan tectonic events, northwest
Himalaya,Pakistan. Kashmir J. Geol, 8&9: 197
• Fatmi, A.N., 1977. Mesozoic. In: Ibrahim Shah,S.M.(ed.) Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geol. Surv. Pak.,Mem. 12 :
29 - 56.
• Gee, E.R., 1983. Tectonic problem of subHimalayan region of Pakistan. Kashmir Jour. Geol.,1:11-18.
• Ahmad, S., Alam, Z., and Khan, A.R., 1996, Petroleum exploration and production activities in Pakistan:
Pakistan Petroleum Information Service, 72 p
• Iqbal, M.W.A., and Shah, S.M.I., 1980, A guide to the stratigraphy of Pakistan: Quetta, Geological Survey of
Pakistan Records, v. 53, p. 34
• Khan, M.A., Ahmed, R., Raza, H.A., and Kemal, A., 1986, Geology of petroleum in Kohat-Potwar Depression,
Pakistan: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, v. 70, no. 4, p. 396–414