ALBERT

Description: The Nile Delta offshore is rapidly emerging as a major gas province. High-quality three-dimensional (3-D) seismic data, coupled with data from 13 consecutive successful deep-water exploration and appraisal wells, have highlighted clear phases of erosion and deposition within the upper Pliocene deep-marine slope channels. The gross reservoir architecture is spectacularly imaged by 3-D seismic techniques, both in time sections and through a variety of amplitude extractions, while an extensive program of core and wire-line log acquisition and analysis has enabled high-resolution definition of the channel-fill sediments. The channels were initiated by the introduction of coarse sediments to the shelf edge possibly at times of relative sea level fall. Initially, there was significant erosion, especially in areas up depositional dip, creating what we term “slope valleys”. Subsequent valley infill commonly commenced with debris flows, slumps, and slides, sometimes overlying basal, bypass-related sands, and progressed to amalgamated or stacked channels in packages of upward-decreasing net-to-gross sand ratios. This pattern was commonly repeated following reincision, which may have occurred several times. The different stages of channel development can be considered in terms of slope equilibrium with a reduction in slope gradient promoted by increases in flow size and density and decreases in grain size. Andy Samuel obtained his B.A. degree at the University of Cambridge and his Ph.D. at the University of London. He has been working for BG Group since 1995 on United Kingdom, Trinidadian, and Brazilian assets and completed a 3-year posting in Cairo as exploration geologist where he extended his interest in deep-marine processes. He is currently working as development geologist on BG Group's operated central North Sea fields.Ben Kneller obtained his B.Sc. degree from the University of Sheffield and his Ph.D. from the University of Aberdeen. He was formerly on the faculty at the University of Leeds, where he initiated and, for 7 years, led the Turbidites Research Group. He is now a researcher at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He has applied a combination of traditional facies-based field studies, experimental work, and theory to turbidite-process sedimentology. He regularly consults and teaches short courses for industry. Samir Raslan is the geology section head at Rashid Petroleum. He obtained his B.Sc. degree from the Cairo Faculty of Science and his M.Sc. degree in geomorphology and hydrogeology from Manofia University. Prior to working for Rashid Petroleum, he worked for Zaafarana Oil from 1995 to 1997. He is currently completing his Ph.D. on high-resolution sequence stratigraphy of the Pliocene of the northwestern offshore Nile Delta. Andy Sharp received his B.Sc. degree in physics and electronics from Salford University in 1990, his M.Sc. degree in geophysics from Birmingham University in 1991, and his Ph.D. in geophysics from Reading University in 1994. From 1994 to 2001, he worked for BG Group on North Sea, Pakistani, Tunisian, and Egyptian assets. In 2001, he joined Shell Expro where he is currently working on North Sea field development projects. Cormac Parsons is a geologist in Baker Atlas Geoscience. He received his B.Sc. degree from University College Galway and his M.Sc. degree in petroleum geoscience from the University of Aberdeen. He joined Z&S Geoscience (now Baker Atlas Geoscience) in Aberdeen in 1997. In 1999, he transferred to Cairo and is currently assigned in Milan, Italy, where he continues to work on borehole-image interpretation in the deep-water Nile Delta.