Govand H . Sherwani | Cihan University/Erbil (original) (raw)
Papers by Govand H . Sherwani
The Cenomanian–Early Turonian reservoirs of the Mishrif Formation of the Mesopotamian Basin hold ... more The Cenomanian–Early Turonian reservoirs of the Mishrif Formation of the Mesopotamian Basin hold more than one-third of the proven Iraqi oil reserves. Difficulty in predicting the presence of these mostly rudistic reservoir units is mainly due to the complex paleogeography of the Mishrif depositional basin, which has not been helped by numerous previous studies using differing facies schemes over local areas. Here we present a regional microfacies-based study that incorporates earlier data into a comprehensive facies model. This shows that extensive accumulation of rudist banks usually occurred along an exterior shelf margin of the basin along an axis that runs from Hamrin to Badra and southeast of that, with additional interior rudist margins around an intra-shelf basin to the southwest. Regional tectonism defined the accommodation sites during the platform development. Facies analysis allowed the recognition of 21 microfacies types and their transgressive-regressive cyclic stacking pattern. Sequence-stratigraphic analysis led to the recognition of three complete third-order sequences within the studied Mishrif succession. Eustatic sea-level changes were the primary control on this sequence development but local tectonics was important at the Cenomanian/ Turonian boundary. Rudist biostromes are stacked as thicker shallowing-up cycles composed of several smaller-scale cycles. In places, smaller cycles are clearly shingled (stacked laterally). Iraq's Mishrif sequences are thus analogous to coeval systems across the Arabian Plate in Oman, United Arab Emirates, offshore Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, southwest Iran and the Levant. Analysis of poroperm trends shows porosity increasing beneath sequence boundaries due to karstification and meteoric dissolution. The presence of interconnected vugs in grain-dominated fabric make the rudist biostromes the best reservoir units. Dissolution of aragonitic components of rudist shells was the most important diagenetic process that enhanced reservoir characteristics. The presence of rudist-bearing facies with their diagenetic overprint within regressive cycles is considered the primary factor in effective porosity development and distribution. As a result, because of depositional heterogeneities (facies type distribution and their 3-D geometries) and the influence of sequence boundaries on reservoir quality, each field shows unique geometrical combinations of pay zones, barriers and seals.
The sedimentation process is the most important problems that affects directly the performance of... more The sedimentation process is the most important problems that affects directly the performance of reservoirs due to the reduction of the storage capacity and possible problems effecting the operation. Thus periodic assessment of the storage capacity and determining sediment deposition patterns is an important issue for operation and management of the reservoirs. In this study, bathymetric survey results and an analytical approach had been used to assess the characteristics of sedimentation and estimate the useful life of Mosul Reservoir. It is located on the Tigris River in the north of Iraq. The water surface area of its reservoir is 380 km 2 with a designed storage capacity of 11.11 km 3 at a maximum operating level (330 m a.s.l). The dam started operating in 1986. No detailed study was yet carried out to assess its reservoir. The present study indicated that the annual reduction rate in the dead and live storage capacities of the reservoir is 0.786% and 0.276% respectively. The observed results (bathymetric survey) and algebraic formula show approximately that the useful life of Mosul dam reservoir is about 125 years. Furthermore, the stage-storage capacity curves for the future periods (prediction curves) were established using bathymetric survey data.
Mosul Dam is one of the biggest hydraulic structures in Iraq. It was constructed in 1986 on the T... more Mosul Dam is one of the biggest hydraulic structures in Iraq. It was constructed in 1986 on the Tigris River in the north of Iraq for multiple purposes: irrigation, flood control and power generation. The initial storage capacity and water surface area of its reservoir reached 11.11 km3 and 380 km2 respectively at the maximum operation level 330 m a.s.l. The dam was operational in 1986. Blockage of the intakes of the pump station for North Al-Jazira Irrigation Project in the Mosul Dam reservoir has highlighted the importance of sedimentation problems within the reservoir. A total of 56 samples were collected from the bottom of Mosul reservoir covering most of the reservoir area. The results of the analysis of these samples revealed that they were composed of gravel (3.8%), sand (15%), silt (55.5%) and clay (25.7%). The distribution of these sediments indicates that the silt portion represents the highest or 77% of the bottom sediments of this reservoir followed by clay (13.5%) and then sand (9.5%). However, sand percentages are the highest in the northern zone of the reservoir where the River Tigris enters the reservoir and decrease gradually toward the dam site. In the meantime, silt percentage decreases toward the dam site while the finer fraction (i.e. clay) increases. Statistically, the average median and mean sizes of the sediments are 2.81 phi (0.142 mm) and 6.1 phi (0.0146 mm) respectively. In addition, the sediments are poorly sorted, nearly symmetrical in skewness and leptokurtic, very leptokurtic, to mesocratic. Finally, it is believed that the geometry and hydrodynamics of the Mosul reservoir, the location of the River Tigris entrance together with the side tributary valleys have played the most important role in the sediments distribution and their characteristics.
In the Northern Iraq, the Jurassic oil shales are widely distributed. The studied samples were co... more In the Northern Iraq, the Jurassic oil shales are widely distributed. The studied samples were collected from Sehkanyian, Sargelu and Naokelekan formations in Banik area, about 25 km due NE of Zakho town, Duhok Governorate, North Iraq. The hydrocarbon potentiality parameters, including type and amount of bitumen and kerogen, and thermal maturity of 72 samples as well as two oil samples were assessed by using Rock-Eval/TOC pyrolysis and GC/GCMS techniques. In general, Sargelu Formation samples have PI values below 0.1 and Tmax values varying between 437 and 449, suggesting immature to early mature stage of thermal maturity of oil. They can be considered as good to excellent source, where TOC content ranges from 0.06 to 28.57 with an average of 4.69%. The Naokelekan Formation samples can also be considered as an excellent source rock with TOC content ranges from 5.39% to 25.55%, averaging 17.77%, while the Sehkanyian Formation has no potential (TOC below 0.09%). The samples of Sargelu and Naokelekan formations contain both kerogen types I and II indicating marine organic matter mainly derived from algae and phytoplanktonic organisms proposing typical oil source kerogen. The extracted bitumen samples from Sargelu Formation show diagnostic ratios of Pr/Ph, Pr/nC17 and Ph/nC18 for generation of oil at an early thermal maturity stage. The low Pr/Ph ratio of the analyzed two oil samples from Jeribe and Sargelu formations together with the low Pr/n-C17 and Ph/n-C18 suggest that the oils was generated from a source rock containing mainly marine organic matter deposited under reducing conditions.
Iraq is one of the riparian countries within basins of Tigris-Euphrates Rivers in the Middle East... more Iraq is one of the riparian countries within basins of Tigris-Euphrates Rivers in the Middle East region. The region is currently facing water shortage problems due to the increase of the demand and climate changes. In the present study, average monthly water flow measurements for 15 stream flow gaging stations within basins of these rivers in Iraq with population growth rate data in some of its part were used to evaluate the reality of the current situation and future challenges of water availability and demand in Iraq. The results showed that Iraq receives annually 70.92 km 3 of water 45.4 and 25.52 km 3 from River Tigris and Euphrates respectively. An amount of 18.04 km 3 of the Tigris water comes from Turkey while 27.36 km 3 is supplied by its tributaries inside Iraq. The whole amount of water in the Euphrates Rivers comes outside the Iraqi borders. Annual decrease of the water inflow is 0.1335 km 3 • year −1 for Tigris and 0.245 km 3 • year −1 for Euphrates. This implies that the annual percentage reduction of inflow rates for the two rivers is 0.294% and 0.960%, respectively. Iraq consumes annually 88.89% (63.05 km 3) of incoming water from the two rivers, where about 60.43% and 39.57% are from Rivers Tigris and Euphrates respectively. Water demand increases annually by 1.002 km 3 , of which 0.5271 km 3 and 0.475 km 3 are within Tigris and Euphrates basins respectively. The average water demand in 2020 will increase to 42.844 km 3 • year −1 for Tigris basin and for Euphrates 29.225 km 3 • year −1 (total 72.069 km 3 • year −1), while water availability will decrease to 63.46 km 3 • year −1. This means that the overall water shortage will be restricted to 8.61 km 3 .
Many sectors in Iraq, including education, were unfairly neglected for three decades preceding 20... more Many sectors in Iraq, including education, were unfairly neglected for three decades preceding 2003. This had mandated competent programs for reform and development, almost in every segment of education and higher education.
In this context, two main ambitious scholarships programs were launched in Federal Iraq and Kurdistan Region (North Iraq) as well :
Human Capacity Development Program (HCDP) was commenced in 2010 by Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), with a generous annual budget of 100 million dollars. This program included three components (scholarships, training, and scientific research). The scholarships component (targeting master and PhD degrees) was focused upon during the last four years. Within the first three rounds of HCDP, about 4400 candidates were chosen to study in wide range of academic programs in high ranking universities, mainly in Western Europe and North America. Out of this figure, around 3000 students had started their studies at different destinations, the rest are either attending English Language training or waiting to obtain academic offers. To date, about 1500 HCDP graduates of master and PhD has completed study and returned home.
The other scholarship program, was launched in 2009 by the Federal Iraqi Government, it is called "The Iraqi Education Initiative". It is supervised and run by the Higher Committee of Education Development (HCED) which is affiliated to the office of the Prime minister. For the HCED scholarships, over 4200 candidates were selected to study for all academic degrees (bachelor, master, and PhD).
It is worth mentioning, that in both scholarships program, the selection criteria were set on point-based competitive system, taking the academic skill and experience in consideration. The system was fully computer operated and made as transparent as possible.
It is anticipated, that thousands of fresh graduates of these scholarships programs would secure a vital knowledge and technology transfer, and develop the excellence of teaching and research in the institutions of higher education in Iraq.
ThiThe Mishrif multi-carbonates factory in the North-Rumaila and West-Qurna oil fields is taken a... more ThiThe Mishrif multi-carbonates factory in the North-Rumaila and West-Qurna oil fields is taken a prototype model to appraising the facies types, classification, and related most important diagenetic impacts on pore evolution, for the other depositional areas of the southern regions of the Mesopotamian basin of Iraq. This stratigraphic tool is exclusively concerns the high-resolution (HR) microfacies analytical methodology, diagenesis versus pore system evolution and classification terminology for the Mishrif multi-carbonates, from stand point of the local-to-regional environmental settings. The HR microfacies/diagenetic inquiry is basically presented on the essential litho-faunal compositional items per environmental aspects, graded from distal-outer ramp through shallow open-marine depositional ecozones to fore-shoal/bioaccumulated rudistid banks passing back-shoal/open-shelf lagoonal/restricted inner-shelf settings. The shallowing-upward buildups of the pore system/diagenetic impacts as per poro-perm consideration; it has taken into special interest from reservoir geology/modeling purposes point of view. The local-to-regional framework/lateral distribution framework of the buildups is taken in to special consideration as well. The methodological technique used in this study; arranged in a combined issue to be a supportive utility for the chrono-sequence stratigraphic inquiries of this important Cenomanian to early Turonian carbonate succession in the southern Iraqi oil fields. This lexicon has covered the most important planktonic/smaller to larger benthonic foraminifera and associated most particular molluscs and algae database, from stand point of biozonation and biostratigraphic buildup and related environmental aspects.
Reservoirs are usually exposed to sediment accumulation problems that will lead to reduction in t... more Reservoirs are usually exposed to sediment accumulation problems that will lead to reduction in their storage capacity. This problem directly affects the performance of the dams and causes shortage of their useful life. The simplest technique to estimate sediment deposition rate is using sediment rating curve with sediment trapping efficiency (TE) of the reservoir. Many empirical and semi-empirical approaches have been suggested for to determine this term depending on the annual inflow rate, reservoir characteristics and features of the catchments area. In this study six different empirical methods depending on the residence time principle (water retention time) were used. These approaches were reviewed and applied to determine TE of Mosul dam reservoir (MDR) for period 1986 to 2011. The monthly operating data for inflow, outflow and water elevations for MDR were used to determine monthly TE and long-term TE for whole period of MDR using the mentioned methods. Furthermore, the monthly inflow rate for River Tigris upstream MDR, its sediment rating curve and sediment feeding from valleys around MDR were used to estimate the amount sediment coming to the reservoir. The results provided by these methods for TE with sediment coming to MDR were used to compute the amount of sediment deposited in MDR on monthly bases during this period. The results obtained were evaluated using observed bathyme-tric survey data that had been collected in 2011 after 25 years of the operation of the dam. The results showed all the mentioned methods gave convergent results and they were very close to bathymetric survey results for estimating the volume of sediment deposited especially that proposed by Ward which gave 0.368% percentage error. Furthermore, the result computed using monthly TE gave good agreement if compared with that long-term TE where the percentage error was ranging between −3.229% to 1.674% for monthly adopted data and −4.862% to −2.477% for I. E. Issa et al. 191 whole period data. It is believed that this work will help others to use this procedure on other reservoirs .
The Mishrif multi-carbonates factory in the North-Rumaila and West-Qurna oil fields is taken a pr... more The Mishrif multi-carbonates factory in the North-Rumaila and West-Qurna oil fields is taken a prototype model to appraising the facies types, classification, and related most important diagenetic impacts on pore evolution, for the other depositional areas of the southern regions of the Mesopotamian basin of Iraq. This stratigraphic tool is exclusively concerns the high-resolution (HR) microfacies analytical methodology, diagenesis versus pore system evolution and classification terminology for the Mishrif multi-carbonates, from stand point of the local-to-regional environmental settings. The HR microfacies/diagenetic inquiry is basically presented on the essential litho-faunal compositional items per environmental aspects, graded from distal-outer ramp through shallow open-marine depositional ecozones to fore-shoal/bioaccumulated rudistid banks passing back-shoal/open-shelf lagoonal/restricted inner-shelf settings. The shallowing-upward buildups of the pore system/diagenetic impacts as per poro-perm consideration; it has taken into special interest from reservoir geology/modeling purposes point of view. The local-to-regional framework/lateral distribution framework of the buildups is taken in to special consideration as well. The methodological technique used in this study; arranged in a combined issue to be a supportive utility for the chrono-sequence stratigraphic inquiries of this important Cenomanian to early Turonian carbonate succession in the southern Iraqi oil fields. This lexicon has covered the most important planktonic/smaller to larger benthonic foraminifera and associated most particular molluscs and algae database, from stand point of biozonation and biostratigraphic buildup and related environmental aspects.
The storage capacity of reservoirs is gradually reduced due to sediment accumulation that causesc... more The storage capacity of reservoirs is gradually reduced due to sediment accumulation that
causeschanges in the area-storage capacity (ASC) curves. Establishing these curves and predicting
their future change is an important issue for planners, designers and operators of dams.Many empirical
and semi-empirical approaches have been suggested for establishing and predicting the future changes
forthese curves. In this study four empirical and semi-empirical methods wereevaluated and three of
them were modified to be used for the prediction of changes in the ASC curves due to sedimentation,
based on the existing sedimentation survey data for 11 reservoirs in the USA. For evaluation, these
approaches werereviewed and used to determine sedimentation depth and establishing the ASC curves
for the Mosul dam reservoir (MDR),which is the biggest hydraulic structure on the River Tigris in
northern Iraq. MDR started operating in 1986 with a storage capacity of 11.11 km3 and a water surface
area 380 km2 at normal operation stage (330 m a.s.l.).The results obtained from these methods were
2
evaluated using observed bathymetric survey data that had been collected in 2011 after 25 years of the
operation of the dam.The evaluation results showed three methodshad presented more accurate results
for estimating water depth or sedimentation depth at dam site with percentage error about 1.06% to
3.30%. Whilst for establishing ASC curves, one method presented good agreement result with survey
data.Furthermore, ASC and sedimentation depths at dam site of MDR for periods 50, 75, 100 and 125
years were estimated using the modified approaches and the area reduction method. The results of the
modified methods provided reasonable agreement when compared with the area reduction method
proposed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the agreement became better with an increase in time
period.
The succession of Early Jurassic formations was studied in terms of reservoir characters in two w... more The succession of Early Jurassic formations was studied in terms of reservoir characters in two wells: Atrush-1 and
Shaikhan-1B from the Atrush and Shaikhan oilfields, respectively, in the Duhok Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The
well Log data from these wells were used to achieve the objectives of the research. Well log data are commonly used to
study petrophysical properties of the reservoir rocks. This task is accomplished through running Interactive Petrophysics
software (IP). Log interpretation was supportive for: (1) Prediction of lithological characters and (2) calculation of shale
volume, total porosity, effective porosity, secondary porosity, water saturation, water bulk volume, residual hydrocarbon,
and movable hydrocarbon of each formation in the studied wells.
Rumaila and Mishrif Formations form the major part of the Cenomanian early Turonian deposits of m... more Rumaila and Mishrif Formations form the major part of the Cenomanian early Turonian deposits of middle and southern Iraq. The Rumaila Formation consists of lithographic chalky limestone at the lower part and marly limestone and marl at the upper part. The formation represents deep off-shelf deposits, whereas the overlying Mishrif Formation is composed of various types of shallow-shelf carbonates such
Petroleum Geoscience, 2013
ABSTRACT Export Date: 13 August 2013, Source: Scopus
Iraq is one of the riparian countries within basins of Tigris-Euphrates Rivers in the Middle East... more Iraq is one of the riparian countries within basins of Tigris-Euphrates Rivers in the Middle East region. The region is currently facing water shortage problems due to the increase of the demand and climate changes. In the present study, average monthly water flow measurements for 15 stream flow gaging stations within basins of these rivers in Iraq with population growth rate data in some of its part were used to evaluate the reality of the current situation and future challenges of water availability and demand in Iraq. The results showed that Iraq receives annually 70.92 km 3 of water 45.4 and 25.52 km 3 from River Tigris and Euphrates respectively. An amount of 18.04 km 3 of the Tigris water comes from Turkey while 27.36 km 3 is supplied by its tributaries inside Iraq. The whole amount of water in the Euphrates Rivers comes outside the Iraqi borders. Annual decrease of the water inflow is 0.1335 km 3 •year −1 for Tigris and 0.245 km 3 •year −1 for Euphrates. This implies that the annual percentage reduction of inflow rates for the two rivers is 0.294% and 0.960%, respectively. Iraq consumes annually 88.89% (63.05 km 3 ) of incoming water from the two rivers, where about 60.43% and 39.57% are from Rivers Tigris and Euphrates respectively. Water demand increases annually by 1.002 km 3 , of which 0.5271 km 3 and 0.475 km 3 are within Tigris and Euphrates basins respectively. The average water demand in 2020 will increase to 42.844 km 3 •year −1 for Tigris basin and for Euphrates 29.225 km 3 •year −1 (total 72.069 km 3 •year −1 ), while water availability will decrease to 63.46 km 3 •year −1 . This means that the overall water shortage will be restricted to 8.61 km 3 .
Journal of Petroleum Geology, 1998
This paper reports on the sedimentology and stratigraphy of the mid-Cretaceous Mishrif Formation,... more This paper reports on the sedimentology and stratigraphy of the mid-Cretaceous Mishrif Formation, one of the principal carbonate reservoirs in Central and Southern Iraq. The Cenomanian Mahilban, Maotsi and Fahad Carbonate Formations of Central Iraq are the lateral chronostratigraphical equivalents of the Mishrif and underlying Rumaila Formations of Southern Iraq. Together, these units represent a single mid-Cretaceous carbonate succession in the Mesopotamian Basin.The Mishrif Formation in Central Iraq reflects the continuous deposition of shallow-shelf carbonates; periodic rises in sea level led to episodes of deeper-water sedimentation, during which the outer-shelf and basinal deposits of the Rumaila Formation were laid down. A ramped platform was the principal depositional setting for the entire Cenomanianearly Turonian carbonate succession.The best reservoir conditions in the Mishrif Formation occur in rudist-bearing facies, such as rudstones and rudistid packstone/grainstones. Reservoir units are characterised by porosities of >20% and by permeabilities of 100 mD to 1 Darcy. Other carbonate facies, such as pelagic mudstone/ wackestones, bioclastic wackestones and peloidal packstones, are less significant as reservoir rocks. All the carbonates were affected by a range of diagenetic processes, among which dissolution and dolomitization led to the formation of secondary porosity; porosity was reduced by compaction, stylolitization, micritisation, neomorphism and cementation.The Mishrif Formation is divisible by a prominent unconformity into two large-scale regressive sequences, which are particularly distinguishable in the east of the Mesopotamian Basin. Multiple reservoir units are present in both sequences. The west of the basin is dominated by the lower sequence, which has relatively few reservoir intervals. The shallow-water reservoir units in the east of the basin are thick, reflecting relatively high subsidence rates throughout the Cenomanian (e.g in the Amara oilfield and nearby areas). Subsidence rates in the western side of the basin were lower, and reservoir units are thinner and more limited. The Mishrif Formation carbonates wedge-out in the western and SW deserts of Iraq.
The Cenomanian–Early Turonian reservoirs of the Mishrif Formation of the Mesopotamian Basin hold ... more The Cenomanian–Early Turonian reservoirs of the Mishrif Formation of the Mesopotamian Basin hold more than one-third of the proven Iraqi oil reserves. Difficulty in predicting the presence of these mostly rudistic reservoir units is mainly due to the complex paleogeography of the Mishrif depositional basin, which has not been helped by numerous previous studies using differing facies schemes over local areas. Here we present a regional microfacies-based study that incorporates earlier data into a comprehensive facies model. This shows that extensive accumulation of rudist banks usually occurred along an exterior shelf margin of the basin along an axis that runs from Hamrin to Badra and southeast of that, with additional interior rudist margins around an intra-shelf basin to the southwest. Regional tectonism defined the accommodation sites during the platform development. Facies analysis allowed the recognition of 21 microfacies types and their transgressive-regressive cyclic stacking pattern. Sequence-stratigraphic analysis led to the recognition of three complete third-order sequences within the studied Mishrif succession. Eustatic sea-level changes were the primary control on this sequence development but local tectonics was important at the Cenomanian/ Turonian boundary. Rudist biostromes are stacked as thicker shallowing-up cycles composed of several smaller-scale cycles. In places, smaller cycles are clearly shingled (stacked laterally). Iraq's Mishrif sequences are thus analogous to coeval systems across the Arabian Plate in Oman, United Arab Emirates, offshore Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, southwest Iran and the Levant. Analysis of poroperm trends shows porosity increasing beneath sequence boundaries due to karstification and meteoric dissolution. The presence of interconnected vugs in grain-dominated fabric make the rudist biostromes the best reservoir units. Dissolution of aragonitic components of rudist shells was the most important diagenetic process that enhanced reservoir characteristics. The presence of rudist-bearing facies with their diagenetic overprint within regressive cycles is considered the primary factor in effective porosity development and distribution. As a result, because of depositional heterogeneities (facies type distribution and their 3-D geometries) and the influence of sequence boundaries on reservoir quality, each field shows unique geometrical combinations of pay zones, barriers and seals.
The sedimentation process is the most important problems that affects directly the performance of... more The sedimentation process is the most important problems that affects directly the performance of reservoirs due to the reduction of the storage capacity and possible problems effecting the operation. Thus periodic assessment of the storage capacity and determining sediment deposition patterns is an important issue for operation and management of the reservoirs. In this study, bathymetric survey results and an analytical approach had been used to assess the characteristics of sedimentation and estimate the useful life of Mosul Reservoir. It is located on the Tigris River in the north of Iraq. The water surface area of its reservoir is 380 km 2 with a designed storage capacity of 11.11 km 3 at a maximum operating level (330 m a.s.l). The dam started operating in 1986. No detailed study was yet carried out to assess its reservoir. The present study indicated that the annual reduction rate in the dead and live storage capacities of the reservoir is 0.786% and 0.276% respectively. The observed results (bathymetric survey) and algebraic formula show approximately that the useful life of Mosul dam reservoir is about 125 years. Furthermore, the stage-storage capacity curves for the future periods (prediction curves) were established using bathymetric survey data.
Mosul Dam is one of the biggest hydraulic structures in Iraq. It was constructed in 1986 on the T... more Mosul Dam is one of the biggest hydraulic structures in Iraq. It was constructed in 1986 on the Tigris River in the north of Iraq for multiple purposes: irrigation, flood control and power generation. The initial storage capacity and water surface area of its reservoir reached 11.11 km3 and 380 km2 respectively at the maximum operation level 330 m a.s.l. The dam was operational in 1986. Blockage of the intakes of the pump station for North Al-Jazira Irrigation Project in the Mosul Dam reservoir has highlighted the importance of sedimentation problems within the reservoir. A total of 56 samples were collected from the bottom of Mosul reservoir covering most of the reservoir area. The results of the analysis of these samples revealed that they were composed of gravel (3.8%), sand (15%), silt (55.5%) and clay (25.7%). The distribution of these sediments indicates that the silt portion represents the highest or 77% of the bottom sediments of this reservoir followed by clay (13.5%) and then sand (9.5%). However, sand percentages are the highest in the northern zone of the reservoir where the River Tigris enters the reservoir and decrease gradually toward the dam site. In the meantime, silt percentage decreases toward the dam site while the finer fraction (i.e. clay) increases. Statistically, the average median and mean sizes of the sediments are 2.81 phi (0.142 mm) and 6.1 phi (0.0146 mm) respectively. In addition, the sediments are poorly sorted, nearly symmetrical in skewness and leptokurtic, very leptokurtic, to mesocratic. Finally, it is believed that the geometry and hydrodynamics of the Mosul reservoir, the location of the River Tigris entrance together with the side tributary valleys have played the most important role in the sediments distribution and their characteristics.
In the Northern Iraq, the Jurassic oil shales are widely distributed. The studied samples were co... more In the Northern Iraq, the Jurassic oil shales are widely distributed. The studied samples were collected from Sehkanyian, Sargelu and Naokelekan formations in Banik area, about 25 km due NE of Zakho town, Duhok Governorate, North Iraq. The hydrocarbon potentiality parameters, including type and amount of bitumen and kerogen, and thermal maturity of 72 samples as well as two oil samples were assessed by using Rock-Eval/TOC pyrolysis and GC/GCMS techniques. In general, Sargelu Formation samples have PI values below 0.1 and Tmax values varying between 437 and 449, suggesting immature to early mature stage of thermal maturity of oil. They can be considered as good to excellent source, where TOC content ranges from 0.06 to 28.57 with an average of 4.69%. The Naokelekan Formation samples can also be considered as an excellent source rock with TOC content ranges from 5.39% to 25.55%, averaging 17.77%, while the Sehkanyian Formation has no potential (TOC below 0.09%). The samples of Sargelu and Naokelekan formations contain both kerogen types I and II indicating marine organic matter mainly derived from algae and phytoplanktonic organisms proposing typical oil source kerogen. The extracted bitumen samples from Sargelu Formation show diagnostic ratios of Pr/Ph, Pr/nC17 and Ph/nC18 for generation of oil at an early thermal maturity stage. The low Pr/Ph ratio of the analyzed two oil samples from Jeribe and Sargelu formations together with the low Pr/n-C17 and Ph/n-C18 suggest that the oils was generated from a source rock containing mainly marine organic matter deposited under reducing conditions.
Iraq is one of the riparian countries within basins of Tigris-Euphrates Rivers in the Middle East... more Iraq is one of the riparian countries within basins of Tigris-Euphrates Rivers in the Middle East region. The region is currently facing water shortage problems due to the increase of the demand and climate changes. In the present study, average monthly water flow measurements for 15 stream flow gaging stations within basins of these rivers in Iraq with population growth rate data in some of its part were used to evaluate the reality of the current situation and future challenges of water availability and demand in Iraq. The results showed that Iraq receives annually 70.92 km 3 of water 45.4 and 25.52 km 3 from River Tigris and Euphrates respectively. An amount of 18.04 km 3 of the Tigris water comes from Turkey while 27.36 km 3 is supplied by its tributaries inside Iraq. The whole amount of water in the Euphrates Rivers comes outside the Iraqi borders. Annual decrease of the water inflow is 0.1335 km 3 • year −1 for Tigris and 0.245 km 3 • year −1 for Euphrates. This implies that the annual percentage reduction of inflow rates for the two rivers is 0.294% and 0.960%, respectively. Iraq consumes annually 88.89% (63.05 km 3) of incoming water from the two rivers, where about 60.43% and 39.57% are from Rivers Tigris and Euphrates respectively. Water demand increases annually by 1.002 km 3 , of which 0.5271 km 3 and 0.475 km 3 are within Tigris and Euphrates basins respectively. The average water demand in 2020 will increase to 42.844 km 3 • year −1 for Tigris basin and for Euphrates 29.225 km 3 • year −1 (total 72.069 km 3 • year −1), while water availability will decrease to 63.46 km 3 • year −1. This means that the overall water shortage will be restricted to 8.61 km 3 .
Many sectors in Iraq, including education, were unfairly neglected for three decades preceding 20... more Many sectors in Iraq, including education, were unfairly neglected for three decades preceding 2003. This had mandated competent programs for reform and development, almost in every segment of education and higher education.
In this context, two main ambitious scholarships programs were launched in Federal Iraq and Kurdistan Region (North Iraq) as well :
Human Capacity Development Program (HCDP) was commenced in 2010 by Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), with a generous annual budget of 100 million dollars. This program included three components (scholarships, training, and scientific research). The scholarships component (targeting master and PhD degrees) was focused upon during the last four years. Within the first three rounds of HCDP, about 4400 candidates were chosen to study in wide range of academic programs in high ranking universities, mainly in Western Europe and North America. Out of this figure, around 3000 students had started their studies at different destinations, the rest are either attending English Language training or waiting to obtain academic offers. To date, about 1500 HCDP graduates of master and PhD has completed study and returned home.
The other scholarship program, was launched in 2009 by the Federal Iraqi Government, it is called "The Iraqi Education Initiative". It is supervised and run by the Higher Committee of Education Development (HCED) which is affiliated to the office of the Prime minister. For the HCED scholarships, over 4200 candidates were selected to study for all academic degrees (bachelor, master, and PhD).
It is worth mentioning, that in both scholarships program, the selection criteria were set on point-based competitive system, taking the academic skill and experience in consideration. The system was fully computer operated and made as transparent as possible.
It is anticipated, that thousands of fresh graduates of these scholarships programs would secure a vital knowledge and technology transfer, and develop the excellence of teaching and research in the institutions of higher education in Iraq.
ThiThe Mishrif multi-carbonates factory in the North-Rumaila and West-Qurna oil fields is taken a... more ThiThe Mishrif multi-carbonates factory in the North-Rumaila and West-Qurna oil fields is taken a prototype model to appraising the facies types, classification, and related most important diagenetic impacts on pore evolution, for the other depositional areas of the southern regions of the Mesopotamian basin of Iraq. This stratigraphic tool is exclusively concerns the high-resolution (HR) microfacies analytical methodology, diagenesis versus pore system evolution and classification terminology for the Mishrif multi-carbonates, from stand point of the local-to-regional environmental settings. The HR microfacies/diagenetic inquiry is basically presented on the essential litho-faunal compositional items per environmental aspects, graded from distal-outer ramp through shallow open-marine depositional ecozones to fore-shoal/bioaccumulated rudistid banks passing back-shoal/open-shelf lagoonal/restricted inner-shelf settings. The shallowing-upward buildups of the pore system/diagenetic impacts as per poro-perm consideration; it has taken into special interest from reservoir geology/modeling purposes point of view. The local-to-regional framework/lateral distribution framework of the buildups is taken in to special consideration as well. The methodological technique used in this study; arranged in a combined issue to be a supportive utility for the chrono-sequence stratigraphic inquiries of this important Cenomanian to early Turonian carbonate succession in the southern Iraqi oil fields. This lexicon has covered the most important planktonic/smaller to larger benthonic foraminifera and associated most particular molluscs and algae database, from stand point of biozonation and biostratigraphic buildup and related environmental aspects.
Reservoirs are usually exposed to sediment accumulation problems that will lead to reduction in t... more Reservoirs are usually exposed to sediment accumulation problems that will lead to reduction in their storage capacity. This problem directly affects the performance of the dams and causes shortage of their useful life. The simplest technique to estimate sediment deposition rate is using sediment rating curve with sediment trapping efficiency (TE) of the reservoir. Many empirical and semi-empirical approaches have been suggested for to determine this term depending on the annual inflow rate, reservoir characteristics and features of the catchments area. In this study six different empirical methods depending on the residence time principle (water retention time) were used. These approaches were reviewed and applied to determine TE of Mosul dam reservoir (MDR) for period 1986 to 2011. The monthly operating data for inflow, outflow and water elevations for MDR were used to determine monthly TE and long-term TE for whole period of MDR using the mentioned methods. Furthermore, the monthly inflow rate for River Tigris upstream MDR, its sediment rating curve and sediment feeding from valleys around MDR were used to estimate the amount sediment coming to the reservoir. The results provided by these methods for TE with sediment coming to MDR were used to compute the amount of sediment deposited in MDR on monthly bases during this period. The results obtained were evaluated using observed bathyme-tric survey data that had been collected in 2011 after 25 years of the operation of the dam. The results showed all the mentioned methods gave convergent results and they were very close to bathymetric survey results for estimating the volume of sediment deposited especially that proposed by Ward which gave 0.368% percentage error. Furthermore, the result computed using monthly TE gave good agreement if compared with that long-term TE where the percentage error was ranging between −3.229% to 1.674% for monthly adopted data and −4.862% to −2.477% for I. E. Issa et al. 191 whole period data. It is believed that this work will help others to use this procedure on other reservoirs .
The Mishrif multi-carbonates factory in the North-Rumaila and West-Qurna oil fields is taken a pr... more The Mishrif multi-carbonates factory in the North-Rumaila and West-Qurna oil fields is taken a prototype model to appraising the facies types, classification, and related most important diagenetic impacts on pore evolution, for the other depositional areas of the southern regions of the Mesopotamian basin of Iraq. This stratigraphic tool is exclusively concerns the high-resolution (HR) microfacies analytical methodology, diagenesis versus pore system evolution and classification terminology for the Mishrif multi-carbonates, from stand point of the local-to-regional environmental settings. The HR microfacies/diagenetic inquiry is basically presented on the essential litho-faunal compositional items per environmental aspects, graded from distal-outer ramp through shallow open-marine depositional ecozones to fore-shoal/bioaccumulated rudistid banks passing back-shoal/open-shelf lagoonal/restricted inner-shelf settings. The shallowing-upward buildups of the pore system/diagenetic impacts as per poro-perm consideration; it has taken into special interest from reservoir geology/modeling purposes point of view. The local-to-regional framework/lateral distribution framework of the buildups is taken in to special consideration as well. The methodological technique used in this study; arranged in a combined issue to be a supportive utility for the chrono-sequence stratigraphic inquiries of this important Cenomanian to early Turonian carbonate succession in the southern Iraqi oil fields. This lexicon has covered the most important planktonic/smaller to larger benthonic foraminifera and associated most particular molluscs and algae database, from stand point of biozonation and biostratigraphic buildup and related environmental aspects.
The storage capacity of reservoirs is gradually reduced due to sediment accumulation that causesc... more The storage capacity of reservoirs is gradually reduced due to sediment accumulation that
causeschanges in the area-storage capacity (ASC) curves. Establishing these curves and predicting
their future change is an important issue for planners, designers and operators of dams.Many empirical
and semi-empirical approaches have been suggested for establishing and predicting the future changes
forthese curves. In this study four empirical and semi-empirical methods wereevaluated and three of
them were modified to be used for the prediction of changes in the ASC curves due to sedimentation,
based on the existing sedimentation survey data for 11 reservoirs in the USA. For evaluation, these
approaches werereviewed and used to determine sedimentation depth and establishing the ASC curves
for the Mosul dam reservoir (MDR),which is the biggest hydraulic structure on the River Tigris in
northern Iraq. MDR started operating in 1986 with a storage capacity of 11.11 km3 and a water surface
area 380 km2 at normal operation stage (330 m a.s.l.).The results obtained from these methods were
2
evaluated using observed bathymetric survey data that had been collected in 2011 after 25 years of the
operation of the dam.The evaluation results showed three methodshad presented more accurate results
for estimating water depth or sedimentation depth at dam site with percentage error about 1.06% to
3.30%. Whilst for establishing ASC curves, one method presented good agreement result with survey
data.Furthermore, ASC and sedimentation depths at dam site of MDR for periods 50, 75, 100 and 125
years were estimated using the modified approaches and the area reduction method. The results of the
modified methods provided reasonable agreement when compared with the area reduction method
proposed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the agreement became better with an increase in time
period.
The succession of Early Jurassic formations was studied in terms of reservoir characters in two w... more The succession of Early Jurassic formations was studied in terms of reservoir characters in two wells: Atrush-1 and
Shaikhan-1B from the Atrush and Shaikhan oilfields, respectively, in the Duhok Governorate, Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The
well Log data from these wells were used to achieve the objectives of the research. Well log data are commonly used to
study petrophysical properties of the reservoir rocks. This task is accomplished through running Interactive Petrophysics
software (IP). Log interpretation was supportive for: (1) Prediction of lithological characters and (2) calculation of shale
volume, total porosity, effective porosity, secondary porosity, water saturation, water bulk volume, residual hydrocarbon,
and movable hydrocarbon of each formation in the studied wells.
Rumaila and Mishrif Formations form the major part of the Cenomanian early Turonian deposits of m... more Rumaila and Mishrif Formations form the major part of the Cenomanian early Turonian deposits of middle and southern Iraq. The Rumaila Formation consists of lithographic chalky limestone at the lower part and marly limestone and marl at the upper part. The formation represents deep off-shelf deposits, whereas the overlying Mishrif Formation is composed of various types of shallow-shelf carbonates such
Petroleum Geoscience, 2013
ABSTRACT Export Date: 13 August 2013, Source: Scopus
Iraq is one of the riparian countries within basins of Tigris-Euphrates Rivers in the Middle East... more Iraq is one of the riparian countries within basins of Tigris-Euphrates Rivers in the Middle East region. The region is currently facing water shortage problems due to the increase of the demand and climate changes. In the present study, average monthly water flow measurements for 15 stream flow gaging stations within basins of these rivers in Iraq with population growth rate data in some of its part were used to evaluate the reality of the current situation and future challenges of water availability and demand in Iraq. The results showed that Iraq receives annually 70.92 km 3 of water 45.4 and 25.52 km 3 from River Tigris and Euphrates respectively. An amount of 18.04 km 3 of the Tigris water comes from Turkey while 27.36 km 3 is supplied by its tributaries inside Iraq. The whole amount of water in the Euphrates Rivers comes outside the Iraqi borders. Annual decrease of the water inflow is 0.1335 km 3 •year −1 for Tigris and 0.245 km 3 •year −1 for Euphrates. This implies that the annual percentage reduction of inflow rates for the two rivers is 0.294% and 0.960%, respectively. Iraq consumes annually 88.89% (63.05 km 3 ) of incoming water from the two rivers, where about 60.43% and 39.57% are from Rivers Tigris and Euphrates respectively. Water demand increases annually by 1.002 km 3 , of which 0.5271 km 3 and 0.475 km 3 are within Tigris and Euphrates basins respectively. The average water demand in 2020 will increase to 42.844 km 3 •year −1 for Tigris basin and for Euphrates 29.225 km 3 •year −1 (total 72.069 km 3 •year −1 ), while water availability will decrease to 63.46 km 3 •year −1 . This means that the overall water shortage will be restricted to 8.61 km 3 .
Journal of Petroleum Geology, 1998
This paper reports on the sedimentology and stratigraphy of the mid-Cretaceous Mishrif Formation,... more This paper reports on the sedimentology and stratigraphy of the mid-Cretaceous Mishrif Formation, one of the principal carbonate reservoirs in Central and Southern Iraq. The Cenomanian Mahilban, Maotsi and Fahad Carbonate Formations of Central Iraq are the lateral chronostratigraphical equivalents of the Mishrif and underlying Rumaila Formations of Southern Iraq. Together, these units represent a single mid-Cretaceous carbonate succession in the Mesopotamian Basin.The Mishrif Formation in Central Iraq reflects the continuous deposition of shallow-shelf carbonates; periodic rises in sea level led to episodes of deeper-water sedimentation, during which the outer-shelf and basinal deposits of the Rumaila Formation were laid down. A ramped platform was the principal depositional setting for the entire Cenomanianearly Turonian carbonate succession.The best reservoir conditions in the Mishrif Formation occur in rudist-bearing facies, such as rudstones and rudistid packstone/grainstones. Reservoir units are characterised by porosities of >20% and by permeabilities of 100 mD to 1 Darcy. Other carbonate facies, such as pelagic mudstone/ wackestones, bioclastic wackestones and peloidal packstones, are less significant as reservoir rocks. All the carbonates were affected by a range of diagenetic processes, among which dissolution and dolomitization led to the formation of secondary porosity; porosity was reduced by compaction, stylolitization, micritisation, neomorphism and cementation.The Mishrif Formation is divisible by a prominent unconformity into two large-scale regressive sequences, which are particularly distinguishable in the east of the Mesopotamian Basin. Multiple reservoir units are present in both sequences. The west of the basin is dominated by the lower sequence, which has relatively few reservoir intervals. The shallow-water reservoir units in the east of the basin are thick, reflecting relatively high subsidence rates throughout the Cenomanian (e.g in the Amara oilfield and nearby areas). Subsidence rates in the western side of the basin were lower, and reservoir units are thinner and more limited. The Mishrif Formation carbonates wedge-out in the western and SW deserts of Iraq.