Journal of Petroleum Geology, vol. 16(3), July 1993, pp.

345-352

345

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PALAEOZOIC SANDSTONE RESERVOIRS OF THE HAMADA BASIN, NW LIBYA: EFFECTS OF SYNSEDIMENTARY PROCESSES ON POROSITY

S. H. A. Shah*+, A. Mansouri* and M. El Ghoul*

The Hamada Basin of NW Libya is an intracratonic basin in which a thick sequence of clastic rocks was deposited during the Palaeozoic. These sediments were derived from a PreCambrian basement of felsic igneous and metamorphic rocks, and include both sands and clays; almost all the clays in formations of Palaeozoic age were produced from the alteration of feldspar. Structures were developed as these sediments were draped over the surface of the basement. Reservoirs in the Lower Palaeozoic (Lower Devonian, Lower Silurian and Cambro-Ordovician Sandstones) appear to have developed as a result of synsedimentary processes, such as winnowing and washing-out of clayey material from the sand by percolating waters, and sliding and slumping on the steep depositional surface during or soon after deposition. Oil traps are independent of structural elevation, but appear to have developed on those surfaces which were sufficiently steep to have initiated the above synsedimentary processes. This theory has been successfully tested in many places in the basin, and may provide a lead for exploration in other basins in Libya that have similar geological settings. INTRODUCTION The Hamada (Ghadames) Basin is located in NW Libya, and extends into southern Tunisia and eastern Algeria (Fig. 1). Recent exploration studies have resulted in the development of a new concept for oil exploration in this and other similar basins in Libya. This is applicable to Palaeozoic sandstone reservoirs which have developed effective porosity and/or permeability as a result of various synsedimentary processes. The gradient of slope at which these processes were effective can be determined from seismic maps. The slope concept was successfully tested in the Hamada Basin as an exploration tool for oil and gas in different sandstone pay-zones.
* Exploration Division, Arabian Gulf Oil Co., Benghazi, Libya. + Current address: Dept. of Geology, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan.

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Palaeozoic sandstone reservoirs, Hamada Basin, Libya

General Geology The Hamada Basin is an intracratonic basin of Palaeozoic-Mesozoic age, in which a thick sequence of clastic rocks was deposited during the Palaeozoic. The basin is bounded structurally and topographically by the Nefusa Uplift to the north, the Tripoli-Assuda Arch in the east the Gargaf Uplift in the south, and the northern extension of the Thampoka Arch in the west (Fig. 1). The basin is characterized by a series of highs trending NE-SW that reflect the PreCambrian topography. These structures appear to have formed as a result of draping and compaction of sediments as they were deposited over the PreCambrian basement. The basin itself was subject to several epeirogenic movements (Bishop, 1978), that resulted in a regional Hercynian angular unconformity, as well as several disconformities (Fig. 3 page 348). The sedimentary sequence in the central part of the basin, near the frontier with Tunisia, is more than 19,000 ft thick (Mikhbel 1977). The Palaeozoic section alone comprises about 14,000 ft of interbedded sandstones and shales. The sandstone occurs in sheet-like bodies that reflect different depositional environments. Carbonate rocks within the Palaeozoic section do not exceed 300 ft in thickness. A generalized stratigraphic section for the basin is shown in Fig. 3. Clastic rocks in most localities in the basin contain variable amounts of clay materials. The source of these rocks is believed to be the PreCambrian igneous and metamorphic basement which surrounds the basin as structural highs, and clays probably developed as weathering products from the feldspars that make up the bulk of the basement rocks. OIL OCCURRENCE IN PALAEOZOIC SANDSTONES Oil and gas have been produced from seven Palaeozoic sandstone pay-zones (Fig. 2). The source rocks are mainly Silurian shales (Byramjee and Vasse, 1969), supplemented by Devonian and Cambro-Ordovician shales (Beicip, 1972). Reservoirs range in age from Cambro-Ordovician to uppermost Devonian or lowermost Carboniferous. The net pay of the producing sandstones is limited in area, ranging in thickness from 20 ft to 50 ft, and appears to be confined to zones of reasonably high slope-gradient. The porosity of the sandstone reservoirs differs not only from one horizon to another, but also from one locality to another within a single horizon. The average porosity for most of the productive sandstones, however, ranges from 13% to 18%. The productivity of Cambro-Ordovician, Lower Silurian, and Lower Devonian sandstones is controlled by their stratigraphic-structural setting. The present study shows that the accumulation and entrapment of oil is confined to structures whose crests are narrow and flanks are steep (Fig. 2), and that neither structural elevation nor amplitude plays a significant role in oil accumulation and/or entrapment. Moreover, the position of the pay-zone may be completely independent of closure (Fig. 5). Lower Palaeozoic sandstones are characterized by higher porosities in the structurally-higher parts of the dipping sand-bodies. Lower porosities are expected in the lower parts of the sand-bodies, as well as the flat portions of uplifted structures (Figs. 4 and 5). Based on this study, it is deduced that the high-porosity sandstones were subjected to sedimentary processes that enhanced their porosity, such as the flushing-out of clayey material prior to consolidation and burial of the sands. As the clays are more abundant in the flat or gently-sloping areas, a direct relationship between the gradient of the depositional surface and the synsedimentary processes, which enhance the sandstone porosity, can be established.

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Palaeozoic sandstone reservoirs, Hamada Basin, Libya

SYNSEDIMENTARY PROCESSES Processes such as winnowing, washing, reworking, sorting etc operating at high hydraulic energy levels, appear to have acted on the sand before its consolidation and burial. These processes, which may have been aided by gravity would not have been effective unless the depositional surface attained a threshold gradient; the more pronounced the gradient and the longer the time involved the greater the effect of these processes would be and, in turn, the better the resulting reservoir quality. Although a detailed investigation of these processes is yet to be carried-out, the pattern by which they appear to have enhanced the porosity and permeability of the Lower Palaeozoic sandstones is as follows: 1. The fine-grained matrix of the semi-consolidated sandstone was flushed-out through intergranular spaces down-slope. This flushing was caused by percolating waters derived from retreating waves and tides (Fig 6). 2. The fine-grained matrix was flushed-out through conduits created by gravity gliding, sliding and slumping of the particles in the unconsolidated sand, which may have increased the volume of the sand-body by creating new voids or expanding existing ones. 3. The fine material would have been flushed-out basinwards through numerous planar microfractures that developed due to sliding and slumping of the sand-body in response to constant agitation by wave-action and tides, aided by gravity. 4. The fine materials would have been removed as the angle of repose of the sand-bodies was disturbed by intermittent shocks from earth quakes or storm waves. Such shocks would facilitate sliding and shaking of the sand-body as well as reworking the sand after each disturbance. 5. The clay particles remaining in the intergranular space in the sand would have been orientated with their longer axes in the direction of flow (Fig. 7) thus enhancing permeability by enlarging the pore-throats. These processes would locally provide a seal by flushing the swollen clay to the structurally lower parts of the sand-body in a manner depicted as a structural nose (Fig 8).

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CONCLUSIONS Oil from the Palaeozoic section in the Hamada Basin is produced from at least seven sandstone pay-zones, sourced mainly from Silurian shales, but supplemented by Cambro-Ordovician and Devonian shales. The productivity of some of the sandstones is independent of structural elevation, closure or amplitude, but is essentially related to the gradient of the area; the more pronounced the gradient, the greater the porosity and permeability. Enhancement of porosity and permeability of the Palaeozoic sandstone reservoirs is related to synsedimentary processes that acted upon the sediments prior to consolidation and burial. These processes had the greatest effect where the slopes were steep, and acted principally by flushing the clay materials down-slope. For such processes to be active, a threshold gradient was required, and this varied from one area to another. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Authors wish to acknowledge the National Oil Corporation and the Arabian Gulf Oil Co. for granting permission to publish this paper, which is based on a contribution originally compiled for the 27th International Geological Congress. Thanks and appreciation are due to Mr Faraj Said, Chairman of the Board, and Mr Ahmad Asbali, General Exploration Manager, for their encouragement and support. Critical review by Dr. M. Ala (Imperial College) is acknowledged. D. Minter helped with drafting of Figures.

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Palaeozoic sandstone reservoirs, Hamada Basin, Libya

REFERENCES BEICIP, 1972. Western Libya Exploration Study, Unpub. Rep., NOC. BISHOP, W.F., 1976. Geology of Tunisia and adjacent parts of Algeria and Libya. AAPG Bull., 59/3, 423-450. BYRAMJEE, R. and VASSE, L., 1969. Geochemical interpretation of Libyan and North-Sahara crude oil analyses. In: Advances in organic geochemistry, 1968. Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp. 319-330. MIKHBEL, S.R., 1977. Basement configuration and structure of Western Libya. Libyan Journ. Sci., 7, 19-34.