Examples of deep-water play types in the Matruh and Herodotus basins of NW Egypt
Résumé
Numerous deep-water play types have been identified along the transform margin of NW Egypt. A large segment of the offshore Matruh Basin has play types related to a prominent shale décollement within the Matruh Canyon. The footwalls of the growth faults associated with the shale detachment provide fault-controlled three-way closures very similar to the well-known rafts in the Lower Congo Basin in West Africa. As updip extension transitions to downdip contraction, some thin-skinned toe-thrust imbrications can be found in the ultradeep-water part of Matruh Basin. Another important play type in the deep-water offshore Matruh Basin is related to the prominent syn-rift “hinge zone” of an interpreted transform margin of the eastern Mediterranean. This play type could serve as a play opener along the transform margin of NW Egypt and NE Libya. The offshore Matruh and Herodotus basins of NW Egypt represent an underexplored region of the Mediterranean, with only one deep-water well drilled along the margin to date.