Gulf of Suez / Red Sea Structure Evolution and Hydrocarbon Potentiality

By

Mohamed Nabil Sultan¹

(1) Geoscience Consultant, Cairo, Egypt

 Tectonic events, which shaped the Red Sea, Gulf of Suez and Gulf of Aqaba as Parts of the North East African Rift System, are studied. The growth history of the area has been influenced by four forces since the Late Eocene, these forces were responsible for its structure evolution.

The hydrocarbon entrapment within the Gulf of Suez area, proved to be mainly controlled by the fault pattern, as manifested by most of the fields mapping. This is most probably the same case as in the similarly tectonised Northern Red Sea province.

The main structural trends NE-SW to NNE-SSW and NW-SE, are significant and most of the hydrocarbon accumulations are directly or indirectly related to the intersection of these structural elements. The NE-SW trending structure elements are cross-faults along which the Gulf of Suez, as well as the Red Sea, has been opened. Cross-faults are difficult to be interpreted in the subsurface, where they laterally displace the blocks and are also masked by the thick Miocene sediments. However, some examples using details seismic interpretation reveals cross-faults in the subsurface are presented in this study.