Oil and gas play and prospect assessments of Babel, Diwania and Karbala Governorates (Middle Euphrates Region), Iraq

This study was based on the results of geochemical analysis of 332 core and 10 cutting rock samples from Triassic Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Triassic age, in addition to seismic sections, logs, initial drilling results, final reports of oil wells, and previous studies. Constructing models from these data are to assess new oil reservoirs, evaluation, and development of the existing oil reservoirs and hydrocarbon potential, and suggesting petroleum systems in order to reduce exploration risk and develop simple risk assessment of oil fields in the studied area. In general, Abu-Jir fault zone divides the studied area into two petroleum provinces: Mesopotamian Foredeep Basin and Widyan Basin-Interior Platform. The Mesopotamian Fordeep basin are thick stratigraphic sequences with no exploration for oil or gas source rock intervals within the Paleozoic sequence. while the Mesozoic sequence offers the best potential. The transitional sequence of the Triassic period is expected to contain occasional fair to good quantity of oil source rock intervals. The Widyan Basin-Interior Platform is an area with possible deployment of low to moderate risk of Paleozoic play and Lower Mesozoic plays with fair Triassic and Mesozoic objectives. Oil has generated and expelled into traps in the studied area during two phases; the first is during Early Palaeogene that accumulated in traps of the Cretaceous structural deformation, while the second is during Late Neogene.