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Chronology of trap formation and migration of hydrocarbons in Zagros sector of southwest Iran

Journal Article · · Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6472258

Sixty-three orogenically controlled oil and gas fields have been discovered in the Zagros sector of southwest Iran since teh turn of the present century. Most of the fields are giant, multi-reservoir accumulations producing from fractured carbonate pay zones ranging in age from permo-Triassic to Oligo-Miocene. The most prolific oil-producing zones are the Asmari formation (Oligo-Miocene( and the Bangestan Group (Upper Cretaceous). The available geochemical evidence indicates taht the major source of the oil is the underlying Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Kazhdumi Formation. It is argued that, in the main oil-producing area, the Kazhdumi source rock was not buried to the depth required for hydrocarbon generation until the Eocene, and that not significant oil explusion took place until the Miocene. entry of oil into the reservoirs is geologically a recent event; it postdates the late Miocene-Holocene Zagros orogeny that resulted in the formation of the present structural traps. It is suggested that the development of growth structures during the Late Cretaceous and Palogene could have contributed to some hydrocarbon localization prior to the formation of the late Tertiary traps.

Research Organization:
Imperial Coll. of Science and Tech., London, England
OSTI ID:
6472258
Journal Information:
Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States), Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Vol. 66:10; ISSN AAPGB
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English