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Evaluating the paleo-depositional environment of productive reservoir sand of Lower Goru Formation: an integrated stratigraphic and diagenetic study

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Abstract

The early Cretaceous sand intervals of Lower Goru Formation (LGF) are significant reservoir for hydrocarbons and are situated in study area of Sawan gas field, Middle Indus Basin, Pakistan. This integrated study focuses on the development of stratigraphic traps and reservoir geometries in paleo-depositional environment through sequence stratigraphic and diagenetic analysis of productive Lower Goru sandstone. The datasets of well-logs from five wells (Sawan-1, Sawan-2, Sawan-3, Judge-1, and Nara-1), core samples from two wells (Sawan-1 and Sawan-2) and 2D seismic section (line: PSM96-133) are used in this study. The key system tracts including lowstand, transgressive, and highstand system tracts are identified with several progradational and retrogradational parasequences. The bounding stratigraphic surfaces are identified as sets of onlaps and downlaps unveiling different episodes of rise and fall in sea level with different sedimentation conditions. A depositional model is generated to map the paleo-environment of the reservoir by integrating the results of stratigraphic analysis. The log trends and seismic stratigraphic analysis showed the thickening trend of productive C-sand interval towards the eastern direction followed by gradual thinning in the middle part and shale-out trend towards the south and west part of the area. This indicates that the paleo-depositional direction was from east to west in shallow marine settings. The petrography and diagenesis results reveal that reservoir sands are iron chlorite-cemented sublitharenites to lithic arenites. The porosity and permeability of the reservoir is preserved due to a high amount of early diagenetic pore-lining iron chlorite, which commonly coats the surface of the quartz grains. The facies depositional environment is a wave dominated lowstand shelf edge delta system in which proximal delta front sands constitute the best reservoir. The outcomes of this research hold significant promise for advancing the comprehension of diagenetic processes and their influence on reservoir properties within the Lower Goru sandstone and its surrounding regions.

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The data that supports the findings of this study will be provided on request. The data is not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to give special recognition to the Directorate General of Petroleum Concessions (DGPC) Pakistan, for the release of seismic and well-log data to accomplish the research work. The authors are also thankful to Institute of Geology AJ&K for providing the lab facilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Meteorology, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Park Road, Tarlai Kalan, 45550, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Umair Bin Nisar & Muhammad Rizwan Mughal

  2. Institute of Geology, University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJ&K), Muzaffarabad, Pakistan

    Amir Shahzad & Ali Wahid

  3. China-Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Sciences, CAS-HEC, Islamabad, 45320, Pakistan

    Gulraiz Akhter

  4. National Center of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, KpK, Pakistan

    Sarfraz Khan

  5. Department of Physics, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Lahore Campus, Lahore, Pakistan

    Siddique Akhtar Ehsan

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  1. Umair Bin Nisar
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by MRM, AS, GA, SK, AW and SAE.The initial draft of the manuscript was written by UBN and MRM and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Muhammad Rizwan Mughal.

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Nisar, U.B., Mughal, M.R., Shahzad, A. et al. Evaluating the paleo-depositional environment of productive reservoir sand of Lower Goru Formation: an integrated stratigraphic and diagenetic study. Environ Earth Sci 83, 5 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-023-11309-z

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