Hydrocarbon Exploration Potentials in the Tectonically Stable Parts of Western and Southern Parts of Iraq, NE of the Arabian Plate

The development of tectonic units in Iraq has been linked to the ongoing interplay between the Arabian and Eurasian plates since the Late Cretaceous era. It is believed by all researchers who were working in the considered areas that the compressional forces are decreasing southwest-wards. This opinion was achieved due to the decreasing of the amplitudes of the anticlines southwestwards and disappearing (apart from the Anah anticline) south of the Abu Jir Euphrates Active Fault Zone as a recognizable tectonic interface delineating the stable and unstable regions within Iraq. Accordingly, the oil exploration activities were emphasized on the considered unstable parts of Iraq, because the stable parts have no anticlines on the surface. High-quality satellite images, geological maps were used with field observations to prove that there are no regions in Iraq, which are considered tectonically stable. Yet, there is attenuation for the compressional forces southwest-wards. Hence, the classification of Iraq into the "Stable Shelf" and "Unstable Shelf" tectonic domains fails to accurately represent the actual tectonic dynamics of the region. This means that there are no tectonically stable parts in Iraq. The possibility of finding hydrocarbons, especially in Ordovician and older Cambrian rocks that have not yet been studied is discussed. A correlation between Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Syria has been performed, as the presence of hydrocarbon in different geological formations is concerned, with some data about the maturity of the hydrocarbons found in some drilled deep wells.