3D slicing of radiogenic heat production in Bahariya Formation, Tut oil field, North-Western Desert, Egypt

Abstract

A 3D block of radiogenic heat production was constructed from the subsurface total gamma ray logs of Bahariya Formation, Western Desert, Egypt. The studied rocks possess a range of radiogenic heat production varying from 0.21μWm−3 to 2.2μWm−3. Sandstone rocks of Bahariya Formation have higher radiogenic heat production than the average for crustal sedimentary rocks. The high values of density log of Bahariya Formation indicate the presence of iron oxides which contribute the uranium radioactive ores that increase the radiogenic heat production of these rocks. The average radiogenic heat production produced from the study area is calculated as 6.3kW.The histogram and cumulative frequency analyses illustrate that the range from 0.8 to 1.2μWm−3 is about 45.3% of radiogenic heat production values. The 3D slicing of the reservoir shows that the southeastern and northeastern parts of the study area have higher radiogenic heat production than other parts.