POTENTIALITY OF BLACK SHALES IN EGYPT

Fekry Youssef
Undersecretary for mineral resources , ministry of petroleum, Egypt .

Egypt has two gyp substantial resources of black shale

1- Safaga-Qusier , Eastern Desert Safagag 2- Abu Tartur, Western Desert

Main localities of oil shale in Egypt

Black Shale Of Safaga & Qusier Black Shale is restricted with phosphate bed i th ith h h t b d in the upper cretaceous and its recorded at the upper parts of Qusier formation, Duwi formation and the lower part of Dakhla formation. formation.

PREVIOUS STUDIES AND PRESENT STATUS

Mustafa and Ghaly (1964) studied three samples of black shale from Abu Tundoub, Duwi and Nekheil mines in Quseir area. They determined 22% TOC. The German scientists of the Berlin Technical University contributed much to the geology of the Upper Cretaceous black shale in Egypt, particularly during the period from 1983 to 1987.

Detailed distribution of black shale in QuseirQuseirSafaga landstretch and shoreline of the Thysis during Upper Cretaceous

Berlin Technical University Group

1. Robison and Troger (1983); The Fischer assay yield of black shale samples from Quseir, Hamrawein and Safaga is high (up to 40 gal/ton) suggesting considerable potential as oil shale. 2. Troger (1984) reported new data on the Fischer assay yield of the organic-rich Cretaceous strata in Quseir-Safaga (20-45 organicQuseir(20gal/ton) and determined 5.7% as maximum gas amount. He estimated the total volume of oil that can be extracted from the black shales of Quseir-Safaga area to be 4.5 billion bbl (!). Quseir3. Ganz (1984) mentioned that the organic carbon d 3 G i d h h i b does not exceed 6%, while sulphur range between 2 and 5%. The soluble organic matter (SOM) varies between 550 and 6600 ppm with bitumen ratio between 18 and 99 7 99.7.

Khaled, et al., (1987) studied the extractable organic matter in the black shale belonging to the Duwi Formation in Quseir-Safaga Quseirarea and determined the total organic carbon content to be from 3.4 to 9.1% while the extractable fraction is only from 1.5 to 1.9%. ElEl-Kammar, et al., (1990) discovered a vanadium-rich zone in the vanadiumblack shale just capping the economic phosphate bed in Quseir area. area They called this vanadium-rich black shale as the vanadium"vanadiferous zone". This zone contains up to 0.45% V, 0.4% Zn, 300 ppm Cd and 40 to 60 ppm uranium (i.e., it is HOT SHALE) SHALE)

ElEl-Kammar (1993) studied the organic and inorganic composition of the Upper Cretaceous-Lower Tertiary black shales in all Egypt. The pp Cretaceousy gyp following are short notes on his conclusions on the organic geochemistry: LOCALITY Abu Shegiela mine sample Nekheil i N kh il mine Nasser mine Abu Tundub mine Abu Tartur mine Abu Tartur mine low scarp Edmonstond (Dakhla) surface Abu Tartur (Dakhla) surface CALORIFIC VALUE (kcal/kg) 705 2360 1251 1180 1553 903 1429 1452

2. ABU TARTUR MINE

The available data on the hydrocarbon potential of Abu Tartur area are insufficient, but rare for black shales of Dakhla

Abu Tartur Plateau

Weathering zone of sulfides and hydrocarbons

The subsurface section of Abu Tartur meas res Tart r measures more than 80m black shales belonging to Dakhla Formation and more than 20m of black shale belonging to Duwi Formation. However, there is no data on the hydrocarbons of these shales, shales except those collected from the mines (i.e., only the ceiling of the mine gallery).

After El-Kammar, et al. (1982)

Stratigraphical section of the Upper CretaceousCretaceous-Lower Tertiary in Egypt

The black shales, whether belonging to Duwi Fm or Dakhla Fm extend over very vast area in the Western Desert: From Kharga (East) to Edmonstone (West) and from Kharga (North) to Dungul (South). It is a giant belt.

Temraz (2005) studied the carbonaceous shale in Egypt, especially those of the Carboniferous, Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary. His surface samples are defined as immature for hydrocarbon generation with a fair potential of kerogen type III.

Geological map of Quseir area

N
G. Hamrawin

Nasser

In general, it can be stated that the "Duwi Range" and its surroundings are target for this oil shale.

Gebel Duwi

The black shales of the Kharga-Dakhla landstretch need to be Khargaassessed espec a y t ose o t e Dakhla Formation. Drilling for especially those of the a a o at o g o evaluating the quantity and quality of hydrocarbons in the giant KhargaKharga-Dakhla plateau (including Abu Tartur) is recommended.

The thickness of the black shales belonging only to the Dakhla Formation is measured to be about 80 m in Abu Tartur but increases to more than 200 in Gifata and Edmonstone. The type yp and amount of the hydrocarbons of suck black shale are not yet determined. The black shales of the weathered lower member of the Dakhla Formation in Edmonstone give relatively high calorific value higher than 1400 kcal/kg. These data, besides the thickness of black shale, oval shape and accessibility point to possible potentiality of hydrocarbons in the Edmonstone Core drilling and analysis of fresh Edmonstone. samples is needed. The thickness of the black shales increases westward to exceeds 200m in Edmonstone, north west Dakhla town. However, there is almost no data on the quality or quantity of the hydrocarbons of these considerably thick black shales. shales

Is case study and good start

Oval shape with an area of about 5km2, and very close to the asphalted road The limestone cap is reduced in thickness The thickness of the black shales exceeds 200 meters. No available data on the hydrocarbon potential in this area, except data on few surface sample (unpublished) give calorific value 1500, and the estimated maximum temperature (Tmax)= 450oC

Edmonstone:

Colorado black shale C l d bl k h l

Gebel Gif t D khl G b l Gifata, Dakhla oasis i

Current studies

seven wells drilled in the el quser area , red sea region and the result

First well at Abu tartur t t area

Core sample

correlation between the new well and old wells

First exploratory well at Read Sea (osr-1)

Read Sea

So far been discovered geological reserve is estimated at about 8.7 billion tons of oil shale, including heat content equivalent to about 5 billion barrels of oil, heat value, considering that the economic limit the user in the world so far is 750 k Cal / kg .

Gabel Duwi osr-1 & osr 6 osr 1 osr-6

Area: 120 km 2 Well depth: 400 m oil shale reserve : 57 billi tons il h l billion (gross) 8.1 billion tons of thermal content of economic f i 4.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent

ABU Shegala Area (Osr-2)

Area: 3 km 2 Well depth: 160 m oil shale reserve : 6 billion tons (gross) 2 billion tons of thermal content of economic 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent

West Youns Area Osr-3

Area: 3 km 2 Well depth: 160 m oil shale reserve : 5 billion tons (gross) 4 billion tons of thermal content of economic 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent

Zog El Behar ( Osr-5 )

Area: 5.5 km 2 Well d th W ll depth: 250 m oil shale reserve : 2.1 billion tons (gross) 4 billion tons of thermal content of economic 25 billion barrels of oil equivalent

He who rides the sea of the Nile must have sails woven of patience Old Egyptian proverb Old proverb