Petroleum system elements of the Beni-Suef Basin, Egypt

The present work aims to shed light on the hydrocarbons occurrences in the Beni-Suef basin of Egypt through a comprehensive analysis of its petroleum system elements. A three-dimensional basin analysis was done apart from the analysis of hydrocarbon geochemistry, basin evolution and the geological history. Beni-Suef Basin is divided into two parts. The West of Nile (WON) part is an unstable shelf of the deep basement and thick-skinned faulting. In comparison, the East of the Nile (EON) segment has rough basement structures, and this Albian basin is filled variedly from the fluvial-lacustrine, fluvial to Cenomanian shallow marine basinal and Turonian deltaic sediments. Afterward, a major Paleocene-Eocene transgression resulted in an open marine carbonate section covered by a blanket of Oligocene marine shale. The structural interpretation shows that the basin underwent multiple tectonic regimes. In a primary phase, the Early Cretaceous rifting took place through which Kharita Formation deposited. The Late Cretaceous phase was dominated by quiet conditions with the deposition of Abu Roash Formation, which was followed by a structural rejuvenation in Paleocene-Eocene period during which Khoman, and Apollonia's Formations got deposited, and thus, this basin is considered a syn-and post-rift basin. Basin modeling and geochemical analysis were applied on the cut samples in the basin and two types of source rock were detected: one with clastic-rich terrigenous organic matter (4.8 wt% TOC) yielding a type III Kerogen (Lower Kharita), and the other one, Abu Roash F carbonate of marine organic matter (2.46 wt% TOC), yielding a type II Kerogen. Two critical moments were recorded in the Beni-Suef Basin: one for L. Kharita shale at Turonian time and the other for Abu Roash F carbonate at Paleocene time.