A geological study of reservoir formations and exploratory well depths statistical analysis in Sindh Province, Southern Lower Indus Basin, Pakistan

Authors

  • Muhsan Ehsan China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, Hubei 430074 P.R. China.
  • Hanming Gu
  • Malik M. Akhtar
  • Saiq S. Abbasi
  • Umair Ehsan

Keywords:

Chiltan, Sembar, Lower Goru, Pab, Ranikot, SML, HRL, Statistical Analysis, Formation, Southern Lower Indus Basin

Abstract

Pakistan being a developing country is facing significant challenges of energy crises due to a deficit of hydrocarbons. So, it is essential to explore and develop new oil and gas fields with increasing drilling rate to meet energy requirements. The study area administratively lies in Sindh Province of Pakistan, basin wise in the Southern Lower Indus Basin of
Pakistan and petroleum concession zone III. The software tools used are the IHS Kingdom and IBM SPSS Statistics 20. A statistical approach like central tendency and dispersion are applied on reservoir formations data, which showed that Chiltan Formation of Jurassic age had an average depth of 3578m in which 38 wells have been drilled, which is 4% of the total well drilled in the area. Cretaceous Sembar, Lower Goru (L.G) and Pab formations having average depths of 3542m, 2359m, and 2254m respectively, which contribute a total of 737 wells with the highest contribution to total wells drilled in the study area. Paleocene age is not well developed in the study area, Ranikot Formation with an average depth 2082m and has a contribution of 18 (2%) wells only. Eocene age Sui Main Limestone (SML) and
Habib Rahi Limestone (HRL) have an average depth of 1496m and 812m respectively, and a total of 158 wells has been drilled into these formations, which are 15% of the total wells drilled. The study showed that exploration and production (E&P) companies must target L.G, SML, and HRL due to low well density in these formations are low, as compared with world standards.

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Published

02-05-2018

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Earth & Environment