Fracture patterns and petrophysical properties of carbonates undergoing regional folding : A case study from Kurdistan, N Iraq

Acknowledgements The authors thank the Ministry of Natural Resources in Iraqi Kurdistan Region for permission to publish this paper. Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd. and HKN Energy Ltd. are acknowledged for providing the subsurface datasets. Great thanks to Colin Taylor at the University of Aberdeen for his assistance in the laboratory work. Thoughtful reviews by two anonymous referees improved the clarity of the paper. Graham Banks is thanked for his helpful and constructive review on a late version of the manuscript, which has significantly improved this paper.Peer reviewedPostprin

Grape Cultivars Classification by Biochemical Constituents and HPLC Profiles

The germplasm of grapevines possesses a great degree of variability and can be divided into geographic groups. Recent genetic investigations have validated these classifications, and further divided types into geographic-genetic groups to better describe their similarities and differences. The purpose of this research was to analyze the biochemical components of nine different varieties of fruit and to categorize different types of grapes using multivariate analysis. Grapes include a number of significant secondary metabolites, including polyphenolic chemicals, which influence the overall quality of the fruit as well as its sensory qualities. The fruit extracts of the Sitkan cultivar yielded the greatest total phenolic content of any other cultivar tested. Both the Ranya and the Rost Cultivars had exceptionally high levels of antioxidant activity. The HPLC analysis of natural compounds (including, rosmaric acid, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, cinnamic acid, p-coumaric acid, rutin, apigenin, gallic acid and quercetin) showed that chlorogenic acid and gallic acid were the most common phenolic compounds in the grape samples. Caffeic acid was the third most prevalent compound, followed by p-coumaric acid and cinnamic acid. Using multivariate analysis, the various varieties of grapes were categorized into one of three primary groupings. According to the findings, the various cultivars of grapes are the most important source of antioxidants and other useful phytochemical components. According to the findings of HPLC testing, the Alan cultivar contained a significant amount of phytochemical components

Stratigraphic correlation and paleoenvironmental analysis of the hydrocarbon-bearing Early Miocene Euphrates and Jeribe formations in the Zagros folded-thrust belt

The Lower Miocene Euphrates and Jeribe formations are considered as the main targets of the Tertiary petroleum system in the western part of the Zagros Basin. The formations consist of carbonates with some evaporate intercalations of the Dhiban Formation. This study utilized data from a field investigation including newly described outcrop sections and newly discovered productive oil fields within the Kirkuk embayment zone of the Zagros fold and thrust belt such as Sarqala and Kurdamir wells. This work is the first to show a stratigraphic correlation and paleoenvironmental interpretation by investigating both well data and new outcrop data. Three depositional environments were identified, (1) an inner and outer ramp belts environment, (2) shoal environment, and (3) restricted lagoon environment. Within these 3 environments, 12 microfacies were identified, based on the distribution of fauna mainly benthonic foraminifera, rock textures, and sedimentary structures. The inferred shallow water depths and variable salinities in both the Euphrates Formation and Jeribe Formation carbonates are consistent with deposition on the inner ramp (restricted lagoon and shoal) environments. Those found in the Euphrates Formation constrained the depositional environment to the restricted lagoon and shoal environment, while the microfacies in the Jeribe Formation provided evidence for an inner ramp and middle to outer ramp belt environments. This study represents the first detailed research that focuses on the stratigraphic correlation and changes in carbonate facies with the main aim to provide a wider understanding of stratigraphy of these carbonate reservoirs throughout the northern part of Iraq

Fracture analysis of outcrop analogues to support modelling of the subseismic domain in carbonate reservoirs, south-central Pyrenees

The productivity of wells in fractured reservoirs depends, in terms of rate and sustainability, on the heterogeneity and variable connectivity of the open fracture network. Outcrop studies in Cretaceous carbonates from the Catalan Pyrenees illuminate this issue and reveal the degree of uncertainty associated with the interpretation of fracture data from wells and seismic. Three examples are chosen to provide verifiable data, parameters and concepts which can be applied to the workflow of fractured reservoir characterization. We discuss fracture properties and distributions in the subseismic volume, the coupled behaviour between litho-mechanical properties, in situ stress and fracturing, and the permeability properties of fault damage zones. The outcrops also highlight some of the difficulties involved in constructing static reservoir models and evaluating fracture interpretations derived from software-based techniques such as surface curvature