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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
AAPG Bulletin
Abstract
(Begin page 765)
AAPG Bulletin, V.
Ghadames basin, southern Tunisia: A reappraisal of Triassic reservoirs and
future prospectivity (E & P Notes)
M. Hedi Acheche,1 A. M'Rabet,2 H. Ghariani,3 A. Ouahchi,4 Scott L. Montgomery5
1ETAP, 27 Bis, Avenue Kheireddine Pacha, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia;
email: [email protected]
2ETAP, 27 Bis, Avenue Kheireddine Pacha, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia; email: [email protected]
3ETAP, 27 Bis, Avenue Kheireddine Pacha, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia; email: [email protected]
4ETAP, 27 Bis, Avenue Kheireddine Pacha, 1002 Tunis, Tunisia
5Petroleum Consultant, 1511 18th Avenue East, Seattle, Washington, 98112;
email: [email protected]
AUTHORS
Mohamed Hedi Acheche holds a B.Sc. degree in applied geology (1984) from the University of Tunis, Tunisia, and an M.Sc. degree in petroleum geology (1986) from the Algerian Petroleum Institute, Boumerdes, Algeria. He began work with Entreprise Tunisienne d'Activités Pétrolières (ETAP) in 1987 in the Department of Geochemistry, where he was involved in a major regional project of source rock characterization. In 1993, he joined the Studies Division, where he participated in multidisciplinary regional surveys. In 1995, he transferred to the Exploration Department. Currently, his main area of responsibility is the assessment of prospects and plays in exploration licenses, particularly in the southern and central areas of Tunisia. His primary area of interest is basin modeling.
Ali M'Rabet received his B.Sc. degree in geology from the University of Tunis in 1972 and both his M.Sc. degree (1975) and Ph.D. (1981), also in geology, from the University of Paris, France. After working as an associate lecturer at the French Petroleum Institute, he served from 1981 to 1990 as professor of petroleum geology and head of the Department of Geology at the University of Tunis. During this period, he also acted as a petroleum consultant in Tunisia for Elf, Conoco, Shell, and ETAP. In 1991, M'Rabet joined ETAP as exploration studies manager, becoming exploration manager in 1995 and, most recently, executive director for exploration. M'Rabet has authored and coauthored more than 100 publications, including three books. His main research interest is the characterization of carbonate reservoirs in North Africa, mainly in Tunisia, Morroco, and Egypt. He served as vice president of the International Association of Sedimentology (1990-1998) and is a member of SEPM (since 1975) and AAPG.
Houcine Ghariani is a senior geophysicist at ETAP. He graduated in 1987 from the National Hydrocarbon Institute of Boumerdes, Algeria, with a degree in geophysical science. He joined ETAP in 1989 and worked in seismic interpretation (two-dimensional [2-D] and three dimensional [3-D]) related to both onshore and offshore licenses and fields in Tunisia. His work responsibilities have also included evaluation of areas in Colombia, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. Ghariani is currently involved with the acquisition, processing, and reprocessing of 2-D and 3-D seismic data. He is a member in good standing of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists.
Abderrahmen Ouahchi received a B.Sc. degree (1988) in applied
geology and an M.Sc. degree (1991) in basin analysis from the University of Tunis. His
background includes extensive study in 
structural
geology. He began his career as a
research fellow at the Geological Survey of Tunisia. In 1993 he joined ETAP, where he was
involved in various projects dealing essentially with hydrocarbon assessment of Tunisian
basins. His current projects include work on prospect and play evaluation in the
Exploration Division of ETAP.
Scott Montgomery is a petroleum consultant and author. He received his B.A. degree in English from Knox College in 1973 and his M.S. degree in geological sciences from Cornell University in 1978. He is widely published in the geosciences and since 1996 has been principal author of the E & P Notes series in the AAPG Bulletin. His other publications include seven books on topics in petroleum geology, science education, and the history of science, plus articles and monographs related to frontier plays, new technologies, field studies, and reservoir characterization.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank ETAP's general management and scientific commission for its permission to publish this article. We also extend thanks to ETAP's partners in southern Tunisia for their kind cooperation. We further extend our gratitude to R. Ghenima, H. Troudi, and Dorsaf Kebaier for their essential commentary and fruitful discussion.
ABSTRACT
Recent discoveries of oil and gas in Triassic reservoirs of the Ghadames basin, eastern Algeria, suggest that similar potential exists to the east, in the southern Tunisian part of the province. For decades, southern Tunisia has remained an underexplored part of the basin, in large part owing to older geological interpretations that focus on Paleozoic reservoirs and to limitations in seismic data quality, resulting from statics problems, that have rendered trap identification inaccurate or tenuous. New analyses of previously and recently acquired geological and geochemical data, as well as improvements in seismic data acquisition and processing, have begun to reverse older notions regarding limited hydrocarbon presence in southern Tunisia. Log correlations indicate that productive, sand-rich intervals of the major Triassic reservoir in the region, the Trias Argilo Greseux Inferieur (TAGI), can be correlated over large distances, suggesting significant continuity into lightly drilled and undrilled areas. Analyses of geochemical data reveal a more complex, multistage history of hydrocarbon maturation and migration than previously believed. Much greater volumes of petroleum have been generated and a larger variety of traps have been created than can be accounted for by older interpretations. Where added to the use of new field and processing parameters for seismic surveys, these factors have together led to important, upgraded evaluations of basin potential in southern Tunisia.
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