Course & Workshop

June 7-11, 2026

Instructor: Dr. Moataz El Shafeiy

 

Who Should Attend

Geologists, exploration geologists, organic geochemists, and development geologists, reservoir engineers.

Course Description:

Organic/Petroleum Geochemistry is an in-depth exploration of the fundamental principles and practical applications of geochemistry in the context of petroleum exploration. Indeed, geochemistry has long been considered as a major contributor to oil and gas exploration and deserves to be admitted as the third “G” along with geology and geophysics (G & G). This course provides attendees with a comprehensive understanding of the chemical and geological processes involved in the formation, migration, and alteration of petroleum hydrocarbons. Throughout the course, attendees will explore topics such as organic matter preservation, source rock evaluation, thermal maturation, petroleum generation and migration, and hydrocarbons alteration processes. By studying various geochemical parameters and analytical techniques, attendees will develop their skills necessary to assess hydrocarbon potential, evaluate source rock (quantity, quality, and thermal maturity), know the basic assessment of unconventional shale reservoirs, and make informed decisions in the exploration of oil and gas resources. Moreover, the course provides basic information about the application of lipid biomarkers (geochemical fossils) as source-related and maturity-related proxies. These organic compounds are valuable proxies in oil-oil and oil-source rock correlations. The course combines theoretical knowledge with practical applications and data interpretation training. At the end of this course, attendees will be able to interpret geochemical data sets to unravel the geological history of a petroleum system and understand the relationship between geochemistry and other disciplines such as basin modeling analysis.

Course Objectives

To gain knowledge and better understanding in the following areas:

• Fundamentals of organic geochemistry.
• Favorable conditions for organic matter productivity, preservation, and accumulation.
• Factors controlling organic richness of a source rock.
• Source rock evaluation (quantity, quality, and thermal maturity), employing techniques such as LECO TOC, Rock-Eval pyrolysis, and Py-GC, and their interpretation.
• Advanced geochemical analyses (GC and GC-MS) to investigate lipid biomarkers and their significance.
• Oil-Source rock and Oil-Oil correlations.
• Organic petrographic tools (e.g., Vitrinite Reflectance Ro% and visual kerogen analysis), and their applications in assessing thermal maturity and kerogen characteristics, respectively.
• Original organic carbon (TOCo) and original kerogen typing (HIo) back-calculations and their importance in assessing the remaining source potential.

Course Content

Part One:

• Introduction to source rock formation, organic matter preservation, accumulation, depositional control, and factors controlling organic richness.
• Kerogen formation, source rock evolution, and petroleum generation.

Part Two:

• Assessing organic matter quantity, quality, thermal maturity, and petroleum-generating potential. Geochemical tools such as Total Organic Carbon (LECO TOC%), Rock-Eval pyrolysis, and
  geochemical logs will be introduced.
• Interpreting different source rock thermal maturity data including Rock-Eval pyrolysis and
  vitrinite reflectance (Ro%) and limitations. Visual (microscopic) kerogen typing and its implications (e.g., HIo calculation). Skills to distinguish between different types of source rocks, their grades, quality (oil- and/or gas-prone), and thermal maturity will be developed to the attendees by the end of this part.

Part Three:

• The concept of biological markers (biomarkers) inventories (n-alkanes, isoprenoids “pr/ph”,steranes, and hopanes) using gas chromatography (GC-FID & GC-MS) techniques. Source-, age-, and maturity-related biomarkers tools and applications.
• Oil-to-oil, oil-to-source rock, and gas-to-source rock correlations. Stable organic carbon isotope ratio and isotope ratio measurement for lipid biomarkers and gases using GC-irMS.

Part Four:

• Basics of 1D burial, thermal history, and maturity modeling for systems with tectonic-induced unconformities and how to calibrate and validate these models.
• Group Discussion and Activities

Part Five:

• Geochemistry of unconventional shale reservoirs. Shale organic richness implication using wireline logs (Passey et al., 1990).
• Reservoir geochemistry and applications of mud gas compositions. Bulk geochemical properties of crude oil and natural gas.
• Group Discussion and Activities

Location

First day will be held at the Holiday Inn Maadi Hotel, in Cairo. The participants will fly the next day to Hurghada. The course will be continued in Hurghada.

 

Course Fees

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

 

Instructor Profile

Experience lies in the Sedimentary Geochemistry field, analyzing paleo-environmental, paleoclimatic, and paleoceanographic proxies of organic-rich sedimentary rocks of different ages, as well as conducting source rock evaluation and unconventional reservoirs studies. Skilled in interpreting geochemical data using a variety of techniques, including LECO analyzer, Rock-Eval pyrolysis, ICP- MS/AES, XRD, GC-MS, GC-irMS, and PetroMod software. Through my work, I can adeptly analyze data to develop depositional models in the light of climatic and/or sea-level changes. In addition to my technical skills, Trace elements geochemistry, Paleo-redox proxies, Paleo-depositional environments, Lipid Biomarker, Petroleum Geochemistry, Unconventional shale reservoirs, Paleoceanography and Chemostratigraphy, Diagenesis, Stable isotope geochemistry, Organic matter in Holocene sediments, Sedimentary Geochemistry, (Paleo)climatic changes, and Environmental monitoring.

Academic awards and Fellowships

March 2023-November 2023

Holder of the prestigious President International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI-CAS) for 9 months, serving as a “Visiting Scientist” at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS), Beijing. IGGCAS is regarded as one of the foremost geoscience institutions in the Chinese mainland, and I was privileged to work alongside world-class experts in the field. Under the mentorship of the esteemed Prof. Dr. Daizhao Chen, I am conducting research on 13C, 26Mg, and 199-202Hg isotope perturbation, as well as redox-sensitive elements,
long the K/Pg organic-rich sediments in southern Tethys. Part of this work is submitted to Earth and Planetary Science Letter.

September 2019-August 2021

Holder of the President International postdoctoral Fellowship Initiative (PIFI-CAS) for two years at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS), Beijing. During my tenure, I had the opportunity to work alongside esteemed scholars in the field of geosciences and was mentored by the distinguished Prof. Dr. Daizhao Chen. My research project was focused on utilizing cutting-edge isotope techniques, specifically 13C, 15N,
34S, and 187-188Re-Os isotope perturbation along the Cretaceous-Paleogene black shales of Egypt. This work is accepted in Gondwana Research.

July 2013-January 2014

Holder of the German-Egyptian Research Short-term Scholarship (GERSS) to conduct research in the Geobiology working group, Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany, mentored by the esteemed Prof. Dr. Volker Thiel. The project concerned the Upper Cretaceous period in Egypt, with a focus on investigating potential changes in CO2 concentration. We conducted compound-specific 13C measurements for lipid biomarkers. The work yielded promising results that are published in Egyptian Journal of Geology.

June 2009-October 2011

Holder of DAAD scholarship (sandwich program) that allowed me to pursue my PhD studies under the guidance of the world-renowned Prof. Dr. Jörn Peckmann at the Geobiology working group, Centre of Marine and Environmental Sciences (MARUM), Bremen University, Germany. My primary research in Germany was focusing on investigating the paleo-ecological conditions during Cretaceous-Paleocene black shales deposition, and I utilized gas chromatography and gas chromatography isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC-irMS) equipment for compound-specific 13C measurements to extract and identify biological markers (molecular fossils). These results were integrated with redox-sensitive elements (from a Dana Gas© project) and published in Q1 and Q2 journals.

• Prof. M. El Ashry’s prize: awarded for the best MSc thesis (February 2008).
• Prof. M. El Ashry’s prize: awarded for the pre-master’s degree (February 2003).
• Prof. Abu Khadra’s prize: awarded for Sedimentary Petrology undergraduate course (February 2002).