Basin and petroleum system analysis in the southeastern Persian Gulf basin: a 2D basin modeling approach

A regional 2D conceptual model was constructed to study the hydrocarbon systems associated with the Middle Sarvak source rock (Cenomanian) in the southeastern Persian Gulf basin. The 2D cross section used for this purpose was 135 km long and encompassed a total of 17 depositional units with the Late Jurassic Surmeh Formation at the base and the Aghajari/Mishan sequences at the top. Compositional type II-S kinetics was considered for the Middle Sarvak source rock, and the model predictions were calibrated against observe data (corrected bottom hole temperatures and vitrinite reflectance data) coming from 4 wells located on the studied cross section. Our results indicate that hydrocarbons predominantly migrate laterally from east to the west of the study area, thereby sequentially charging potential traps en-route. The interaction between facies patterns and geodynamic evolution controls both the distribution and quality of hydrocarbon accumulations in the study area. The calibrated 2D model reliably predicts most of the present-day hydrocarbon occurrences in the study area and explains the present-day variations in their bulk properties. Our findings provide new insights about the unconventional plays associate with the Middle Sarvak source rock especially in the central parts of the southeastern Persian Gulf basin.