ABSTRACT
The Lower Cretaceous (Berriasian to Valanginian) Habshan Formation (Lower Thamama Group) of Abu Dhabi was deposited on a broad carbonate shelf. In east onshore Abu Dhabi, the Habshan Formation consists mainly of limestone and dolomite reaching a thickness of more than 1,100 feet. The depositional environment ranged from shallow-water peritidal to deeper shelf basin. The integration of seismic-stratigraphic, biostratigraphic, lithostratigraphic and electric log data reveals three sequences (I to III) and three shelf edges within the Habshan Formation in east onshore Abu Dhabi. These high energy shelfal sediments prograde toward the basin to the east and northeast with their shelf edges trending north-northwest to south-southeast. The seismic data indicates that the basin was filled in the east during the Hauterivian, after the deposition of Sequence IV (equivalent to the Zakum formation). Good reservoir development is found in the carbonates deposited in the high energy environment along the shelf edge of the Habshan sequence, particularly within the oblique and sigmoidal clinoforms, whereas potential source rocks are expected to be developed basinward. This combination renders the Habshan and Zakum sequences an attractive exploration target, both as structural and stratigraphic traps. Recent exploration activity in the area established the presence of hydrocarbons within the Habshan Sequence III in east onshore Abu Dhabi.
Sequence Stratigraphic Modeling of the Lower Thamama Group, East Onshore Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
