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Movable hydrocarbon index as a tool for evaluating reservoir quality: a case study of the Nubia sandstone in West Hurghada province (southern Gulf of Suez, Egypt)

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Abstract

The present work deals with the evaluation of the available geophysical logs representing the Nubia sandstone reservoir in the Nageh-1 well in the West Hurghada province in the southwestern part of the Gulf of Suez. The qualitative evaluation shows good conditions for oil production in the uppermost zone between depths of 7595 and 7606 ft. The detailed petrophysical parameters necessary to evaluate the reservoir in this zone show a water saturation of 58%, a shale volume of 31%, a total porosity of 17%, an effective porosity of 10%, and a bulk volume of water of 0.06. This evaluation indicates that there are relatively good petrophysical properties for producing oil from the zone of interest. However, the production data revealed that the Nageh-1 well is dry, although it displays oil shows opposite this interval. The present work suggests that the reason responsible for considering the Nageh-1 well to be a dry well is that the hydrocarbon retained in the Nubia sandstone reservoir in this well is residual oil which is not moving through the production process. This finding comes through the calculation of the movable hydrocarbon index (Sw/Sxo = the water saturation in the uninvaded zone divided by the water saturation in the flushed zone), which is always above 1.0 in the examined zone.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and the Ganoub El-Wadi Petroleum Holding Company for providing the data presented in this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Damietta University, New Damietta City, Damietta, 34517, Egypt

    Mohammad Abdelfattah Sarhan & Ahmad M. K. Basal

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  1. Mohammad Abdelfattah Sarhan
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  2. Ahmad M. K. Basal
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Correspondence to Mohammad Abdelfattah Sarhan.

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Sarhan, M.A., Basal, A.M.K. Movable hydrocarbon index as a tool for evaluating reservoir quality: a case study of the Nubia sandstone in West Hurghada province (southern Gulf of Suez, Egypt). Euro-Mediterr J Environ Integr 8, 613–623 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41207-023-00381-3

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