Time-temperature and organic maturation relations at some wells at the northern Nile Delta, Egypt

Abstract

Integrated time-temperature analysis of seven wells along an east-west profile in the northern Nile Delta is carried out. The level of organic metamorphism (LOM), total maturity level (ΣMAL) and total time-temperature index (ΣTTI) are calculated in order to identify the most appropriate analytical method of calculation of the maturation level inside each well at each sediment layer. Sediments in four of the seven wells (Sidi Salim, Abadiya, Abu Madi and El-Wastani) are found to have entered the oil window, as deduced from the three techniques. In Qawasim well, the LOM and ΣMAL show that this well enters the oil window at a specific depth. For the following wells, the mature depths are found to be 4031 m (Sidi Salim), 3777 m (Qawasim), 3717 m (Abadiya), 3603–4155 m (Abu Madi) and 3713 m (El-Wastani). The LOM method is found to quantitatively overestimate the level of organic metamorphism at shallow depths, and underestimate it at deeper levels relative to the other two maturity techniques. The ΣMAL and ΣTTI give results which compare more closely with previous published work than the LOM.