What is it about?
It is reasonable to believe that 2,400 m of salt and anhydrite is a ‘perfect seal’, at least on a macroscale. However, this Gulf of Suez case study demonstrates that hydrocarbons can migrate through thick salt sequences via microseepage and can be mapped at the surface using passive surface geochemistry.
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Why is it important?
Seismic imaging through thick salt and anhydrite sequences is difficult. The result is often millions of dollars spent on drilling dry or noneconomic wells. Passive surface geochemical surveys can be used to augment seismic data and map areas of hydrocarbon richness and enhanced porosity, thus dramatically derisking exploration efforts.
Perspectives
Obviously, most of us think of thick salt sequences as the perfect seal and for traditional surface hydrocarbon mapping this is true. However, I think you will find this article, and the evidence it presents, may challenge your precepts and provide some interesting food for thought if you work in presalt areas like Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico and the Red Sea.
Rick Schrynemeeckers
Amplified Geochemical Imaging LLC
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Microseepage through evaporite sequences — A Gulf of Suez example, Interpretation, December 2021, Society of Exploration Geophysicists,
DOI: 10.1190/int-2021-0078.1.
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