Modelling Plate-Wide Stress Field Evolution of the Arabian Plate for Reservoir Sweetspotting in Kuwait Jurassic Carbonates

Summary Changing plate boundary configurations around the Arabian plate are interpreted to be the driving force for various plate-wide tectonic events that cause the development of various inversion structures, fracture corridors or basement fault reactivation. However, at present-day, the Arabian plate is surrounded by different plate boundaries and experiencing a continent-continent collision at its leading northern margin. There is no evidence of internal plate deformation from geodetic data present-day. We investigate the effects of changing plate boundary configurations on the plate-wide stress field through geological time by means of combining our propietary plate kinematic model with a 2.5D thin-shell, finite element geodynamic modelling code. We test our workflow to produce the present-day stress field and then model the paleo-configuration and stress field at Gotnia salt deposition time, with a focus on North Kuwait Jurassic carbonate reservoirs.