Course & Workshop

June 22 – 26, 2025

Instructor : Mesbah Khalil, PH.D.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

The course is designed for exploration geologists, geophysicists, reservoir engineers and development geologists.

Course Outlines

• Geodynamics, development and characterizing sedimentary basins.
• Characterizing structure regimes for tectono-stratigraphy analysis.
• Principals of tectono-stratigraphy in carbonate and clastic sequences, implementing
  paleogeography and seismic stratigraphy.

• Techniques for mapping reservoir sweet spots.
• Integrating tectono-stratigraphy in petroleum system analysis.
• Analysis of the petroleum basins in Egypt with specific emphasis on the Western Desert.

Course Outlines

Part-1: Theme and Introduction

Opening of Petroleum Basins:

• Factors that control opening, fill and evolving basins to develop petroleum systems (Plate
  tectonics, sea level changes, and sediments influx.

• Summary for the main geological processes affecting the earth and their driving forces.
• Origin of the energy inside the Earth.
• Subsidence mechanisms to develop sedimentary basins.
• Types and characteristics of sedimentary basins.
• Role of mantle plumes in creating and modifying basins.
• Classifications of the Earth’s lithosphere (tectonic plates), special emphasis on the basement
  terranes.

• Models of lithosphere thickness, corresponding subsidence and sediments thickness.
• Origin of the Afro-Arabian plate.
• Characteristics of the rift, passive margin, inverted basins.
• Changing basin types upon changing their tectonic models.
• Main basins in Egypt according to their tectonic origin.

Part-2: Characterizing Structure regimes for Tectono-Stratigraphic analysis:

Stress and strain.
• Sources of stresses, stress propagation, partitioning, perturbation, and acceleration.
• Plate boundary and intra-plate stresses.
• Main deformation styles according to rock mechanical properties.
• Strain significance of faults and fractures.
• Characterizing fault, deformation bands and tri-shear zones.
• Plays in extension styles; open fractures and normal faults.
• Plays in compressional regimes.
• Plays in strike-slip regimes.
• Plays in the superimposed deformation regimes.
• Plays in soft-sediments deformation regimes.

Part- 3: Fundamentals of Tectono-Stratigraphy

• Integrated geodynamic and tectono-stratigraphy approaches in Abu Gharadig.
• Hierarchy of tectono-stratigraphy and the corresponding depositional sequences.
• Global facies pattern according to paleogeography and environments.
• Elements of tectono-stratigraphy and environments of deposition.
• Main types of reservoir Sweet Spots.
• Role of sea levels and sediments influx.
• The five elements that control the climate.
• Control of orbital changes on sea-level changes (Milankovitch cycles).
• Principals of carbonate and clastics influx.
• Plays of dolomite and carbonate build-ups by seepage reflux model.

Part-4: Role of Tectono-Stratigraphy in Characterizing Petroleum Systems:

Conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources.

• Energy in oil and gas, Storing the sunlight energy as chemical energy in Hydrocarbons, Gas
  hydrates.

• Factors that support development and characterization of petroleum resources.
• Exploration for conventional petroleum resources.
• Mechanisms for high organic productivity applied at North Africa.
• Main characteristics of the organo-facies (source rocks).
• Maturity of the organic matter, hydrocarbon migration, reservoir rocks, reservoir sweet spots.
• Stress partitioning to create open fractures sweet spots.
• Hydrocarbon traps.
• Seals of petroleum traps.
• Production mechanisms and water over run.
• Some exploration and production challenges.

Part-5: Analysis of the Petroleum Basins in Egypt:

• Main basins in Egypt according to their tectonic origin, architectures of the Syrian Arch
  inverted basin.

• Changing stress in North Africa since Early Mesozoic to Present, regional hydraulic head of the
  aquifers in Egypt.

• Causes for high organic productivity during Silurian and Jurassic-L. Cret. in North Egypt.
• The three tectonic models in the offshore Mediterranean, Egypt (Syrian Arc, Matruh basin and
  channel, Nile delta).

• Inversion of the Syrian Arc in north Egypt and possible source of stresses from west Arabia
  (Tabuk mantle plume).

• Role of the heterogeneous basement fabric in changing structure styles in north Egypt during
  the Syrian Arc inversion.

• Pattern of the onshore Nile deltas since Upper Eocene to Present.
• Analysis of Abu Gharadig inverted basin.
• Integrated geodynamic and tectono-stratigraphy approaches in Abu Gharadig field and other
  fields in the basin.

• Inversion in Wadi El-Rayan and Beni Suef basin at the southern boundary of North Egypt basin
• Foram basin in central Western Desert.
• Basin in central and southern Western Desert (Komombo rift basin).
• Regional tectonic model of Kalabsh block (Mesaha area).
• Gulf of Suez active rift, Red Sea passive margin, Gulf of Aqaba passive rift.

LOCATION

The first day will be held at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Cairo. The participants will fly the second day to Hurghada to continue the course and return to Cairo on last day afternoon.

COURSE FEES

Inclusive of refreshment and lunch at the Holiday Inn Maadi Hotel. Air Ticket Cairo/Hurghada return and all inclusive accommodation.

INSTRUCTOR PROFILE

Dr. Mesbah Hussein Ibrahim Khalil has Ph.D. in 1995 in Petroleum geology. He is a senior consultant with 46 years industry experience. He is specialist in play generation, field development including using advanced tectono-stratigraphy approaches in mapping reservoir sweet spots in extension, compression, strike-slip and superimposed petroleum basins. I am a liaison, and teacher also. He has worked with Gupco, IEOC, Suadi Aramco, and Senior Consultant in Bahrain.

Mesbah created remarkable plays that led to successful discoveries and field development cases.

He also developed a special skill in satellite data interpretations to produce surface structure contour maps to support the studies. I am also an international field trips leader for AAPG, International geological union, and post international conference trips since 1984.