**1.1. Location of the study area**

The Nile Delta and the offshore Mediterranean Sea basin are hydrocarbon rich provinces that have generated natural gas and condensate from siliciclastic reservoirs ranging in age from Plio\_Pleistocene to Miocene. Currently, these areas are the most active exploration and development province in Egypt. The proven huge reserves of the Pliocene gas discoveries made in the last decade firmly established the Pliocene sequence as a primary hydrocarbon potential target for the exploration activities in the Nile Delta and offshore Mediterranean region.

The study area lies in the offshore Mediterranean Sea to the north of Alexandria and Port Said cities within the northern eastern Nile Delta between longitudes 30° 10´- and 32° 54´-E and latitude 31° 25´- and 32° 00´- N. This area includes four giant natural gas fields namely; Abu Qir Field located to the north of Alexandria city and Temsah, Wakkar and Port Fouad fields located 65 kilometers to the north of Port Said in the offshore Mediterranean Sea, about 30 km from the Egyptian coast (Figure 1).

**Figure 1.** Location map of the study gas fields, offshore Nile Delta, Egypt.
