scholarly journals Integrated Reservoir Characterisation for Petrophysical Flow Units Evaluation and Performance Prediction

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annan Boah Evans ◽  
Aidoo Borsah Abraham ◽  
Brantson Eric Thompson

Introduction: An improved understanding of complex clastic reservoirs has led to more detailed reservoir description using integrated approach. In this study, we implemented cluster analysis, geostatistical methods, reservoir quality indicator technique and reservoir simulation to characterize clastic system with complex pore architecture and heterogeneity. Methods: Model based clustering technique from Ward’s analytical algorithm was utilised to transform relationship between core and calculated well logs for paraflow units (PFUs) classification in terms of porosity, permeability and pore throat radius of the reservoir. The architecture of the reservoir at pore scale is described using flow zone indicator (FZI) values and the significant flow units characterized adopting the reservoir quality index (RQI) method. The reservoir porosity, permeability, oil saturation and pressure for delineated flow units were distributed stochastically in 2D numerical models utilising geostatistical conditional simulation. In addition, production behaviour of the field is predicted using history matching. Dynamic models were built for field water cut (FWCT), total field water production (FWPT) and field gas-oil-ratio (FGOR) and history matched, considering a number of simulation runs. Results: Results obtained showed a satisfactory match between the proposed models and history data, describing the production behaviour of the field. The average FWCT peaked at 78.9% with FWPT of 10 MMSTB. Consequently, high FGOR of 6.8 MSCF/STB was obtained. Conclusion: The integrated reservoir characterisation approach used in this study has provided the framework for defining productive zones and a better understanding of flow characteristics including spatial distribution of continuous and discrete reservoir properties for performance prediction of sandstone reservoir.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J.-B. Tendil ◽  
Laura Galluccio ◽  
Catherine Breislin ◽  
Jawaher A. Alsabeai ◽  
Arthur P. C. Lavenu ◽  
...  

Abstract The Lower Cretaceous Lekhwair Formation is one of the most prolific oil reservoirs in onshore and offshore UAE, yet the available literature on this interval remains limited. Based on a recent study carried out in collaboration with ADNOC Offshore, the present paper provides new insights into the comprehension of the interplay between primary depositional and secondary diagenetic controls on the reservoir performance, which is of crucial importance for the refinement of the static and dynamic models. In offshore Abu Dhabi, the Lower Lekhwair Formation is characterised by an alternation of relatively thick argillaceous (dense zones) and clean limestones (reservoir zones). Reservoir zones consist of basal, low to moderate energy inner ramp deposits, grading upward into thick inner and mid-ramp sediments. Lithocodium/Bacinella is the volumetrically dominant skeletal allochem and can form m-thick, stacked floatstone units. Such Lithocodium/Bacinella-rich floatstones are interpreted to originate from a mid-ramp depositional setting as a result of an increase in the accommodation space. By contrast, the contribution of Lithocodium/Bacinella floatstones is significantly reduced in inner ramp settings where these tend to form cm- to dm-scale, laterally discontinuous interbeds. The combination of sedimentological findings with diagenetic data provided an enhanced understanding of the origin and variations of the reservoir quality across the Lower Lekhwair Formation. In more detail, the best reservoir quality occurs within poorly cemented, Lithocodium/Bacinella-rich floatstones with grain-supported matrices, which favoured the preservation of a macropore-dominated pore system allowing an effective fluid flow. By contrast, the mud-supported textures with only rare and localised occurrence of mm- to cm-scale Lithocodium/Bacinella clumps, present the poorest reservoir quality due to the isolated nature of the macropores and the relatively tight micrite matrix surrounding them. At the large scale, the Lower Lekhwair shows an upward increase in reservoir quality, consistently with the upward increase in abundance and thickness of the Lithocodium/Bacinella-rich floatstones. The integration of depositional features with diagenetic overprint in the Lower Lekhwair Formation shows the fundamental role played by Lithocodium/Bacinella-rich floatstones with grain-supported matrices on the reservoir quality distribution. The impact of the Lithocodium/Bacinella floatstone matrices on the reservoir performance was never investigated before and hence represents an element of innovation and a powerful tool to predict the distribution of the areas hosting the best reservoir properties.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 4005-4018
Author(s):  
Ahmed N. Al-Dujaili ◽  
Mehdi Shabani ◽  
Mohammed S. AL-Jawad

AbstractThis study has been accomplished by testing three different models to determine rocks type, pore throat radius, and flow units for Mishrif Formation in West Qurna oilfield in Southern Iraq based on Mishrif full diameter cores from 20 wells. The three models that were used in this study were Lucia rocks type classification, Winland plot was utilized to determine the pore throat radius depending on the mercury injection test (r35), and (FZI) concepts to identify flow units which enabled us to recognize the differences between Mishrif units in these three categories. The study of pore characteristics is very significant in reservoir evaluation. It controls the storage mechanism and reservoir fluid properties of the permeable units while pore structure is a critical controlling factor for the petrophysical properties and multiphase-flow characteristics in reservoir rocks. Flow zone indicator (FZI) has been used to identify the hydraulic flow units approach (HFUs). Each (HFU) was reproduced by certain FZI and was supposed to have similar geological and petrophysical properties. The samples were from four lithofacies, mA, CRII, mB1, and mB2. Because of the wide range of cored-wells samples (20 wells), this paper is updated the previous studies and indicated some differences in the resulting categories. It was noticed as results of this study that the rocks types of the lower Mishrif were mostly ranged from wackestone to packstone in the upper part of mB2 which reflected mid-ramp facies while the upper part of mB2 referred to shoal facies and for the mB1 unit the rocks types mostly range from packstone to grainstone with some points as wackestone marked as shoal and rudist bioherm facies. Grainstone relatively decreases with the increasing of depth from upper to lower Mishrif while wackestone and packstone indicated increasing in the same direction. The unit mA is marked as mesopores and macropores, while megapores and macropores feature increased in mB1 which has been noticed in the northern part of West Qurna oilfield due to increasing shoal and rudist bioherm facies, the mB2 unit revealed increasing in mesoporous and decreasing in megaporous. The upper Mishrif (mA) has three flow units, while the lower Mishrif (mB1, mB2) has eight flow units four for each reservoir unit.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 134-144
Author(s):  
Samit Mondal ◽  
Rima Chatterjee ◽  
Shantanu Chakraborty

Abstract The Miocene reservoirs in prolific Krishna-Godavari basin are mostly fluvial deposits and laminated or blocky in nature. The type of reservoir quality depends on associated geological environments. Due to several lateral variations in reservoir properties, a similar kind of workflow for reservoir characterisation does not work. Customised workflow needs to be applied in this area for estimation of petrophysical properties or rock physical analysis for reservoir quality prediction. As the major input of rock physical analysis is petrophysical properties, it is crucial to estimate these properties accurately. Meanwhile, it is also important to check the seismic sensitivity to change in fluid saturation in the reservoir characterisation process. The analysis assures the presence of reservoir and hydrocarbon contact in seismic sensitivity, which is essential for removing risk. Integrating the geological model with rock physical analysis for reservoir characterisation at the drilled well, the reservoir quality at undrilled prospects is predicted. In this study, the comprehensive study for reservoir characterisation of Miocene reservoirs consists of three different steps: calculation of petrophysical properties for mixed of thick and laminated sequence, rock physical analysis for identification of hydrocarbon reservoir and corresponding seismic sensitivity for change in saturation and finally the rock physics template for prediction of reservoir quality away from the drilled well. Results from the study have added significant value in de-risking the number of undrilled prospects in this area.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Al Naqbi ◽  
J Ahmed ◽  
J Vargas Rios ◽  
Y Utami ◽  
A Elila ◽  
...  

Abstract The Thamama group of reservoirs consist of porous carbonates laminated with tight carbonates, with pronounced lateral heterogeneities in porosity, permeability, and reservoir thickness. The main objective of our study was mapping variations and reservoir quality prediction away from well control. As the reservoirs were thin and beyond seismic resolution, it was vital that the facies and porosity be mapped in high resolution, with a high predictability, for successful placement of horizontal wells for future development of the field. We established a unified workflow of geostatistical inversion and rock physics to characterize the reservoirs. Geostatistical inversion was run in static models that were converted from depth to time domain. A robust two-way velocity model was built to map the depth grid and its zones on the time seismic data. This ensured correct placement of the predicted high-resolution elastic attributes in the depth static model. Rock physics modeling and Bayesian classification were used to convert the elastic properties into porosity and lithology (static rock-type (SRT)), which were validated in blind wells and used to rank the multiple realizations. In the geostatistical pre-stack inversion, the elastic property prediction was constrained by the seismic data and controlled by variograms, probability distributions and a guide model. The deterministic inversion was used as a guide or prior model and served as a laterally varying mean. Initially, unconstrained inversion was tested by keeping all wells as blind and the predictions were optimized by updating the input parameters. The stochastic inversion results were also frequency filtered in several frequency bands, to understand the impact of seismic data and variograms on the prediction. Finally, 30 wells were used as input, to generate 80 realizations of P-impedance, S-impedance, Vp/Vs, and density. After converting back to depth, 30 additional blind wells were used to validate the predicted porosity, with a high correlation of more than 0.8. The realizations were ranked based on the porosity predictability in blind wells combined with the pore volume histograms. Realizations with high predictability and close to the P10, P50 and P90 cases (of pore volume) were selected for further use. Based on the rock physics analysis, the predicted lithology classes were associated with the geological rock-types (SRT) for incorporation in the static model. The study presents an innovative approach to successfully integrate geostatistical inversion and rock physics with static modeling. This workflow will generate seismically constrained high-resolution reservoir properties for thin reservoirs, such as porosity and lithology, which are seamlessly mapped in the depth domain for optimized development of the field. It will also account for the uncertainties in the reservoir model through the generation of multiple equiprobable realizations or scenarios.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omprakash Pal ◽  
Bilal Zoghbi ◽  
Waseem Abdul Razzaq

Abstract Unconventional reservoir exploration and development activities in the Middle East have increased and are expected to continue to do so. National oil companies in the Middle East have a strategy for maximizing oil exports as well as use of natural gas. This has placed emphasis on use of advanced technology to extend the lives of conventional reservoirs and more activities in terms of “unconventional gas and oil.” Understanding unconventional environments, such as shale reservoirs, requires unique processes and technologies based on reservoir properties for optimum reservoir production and well life. The objective of this study is to provide the systematic work flow to characterize unconventional reservoir formation. This paper discusses detailed laboratory testing to determine geochemical, rock mechanical, and formation fluid properties for reservoir development. Each test is described in addition to its importance to the reservoir study. Geochemical properties, such as total organic carbon (TOC) content to evaluate potential candidates for hydrocarbon, mineralogy to determine the formation type and clay content, and kerogen typing for reservoir maturity. Formation fluid sensitivity, such as acid solubility testing of the formation, capillary suction time testing, and Brinell hardness testing, are characterized to better understand the interaction of various fluids with the formation to help optimize well development. An additional parameter in unconventional reservoirs is to plan ahead when implementing the proper fracturing stimulation technique and treatment design, which requires determining the geomechanical properties of the reservoir as well as the fluid to be used for stimulation. Properties of each reservoir are unique and require unique approaches to design and conduct fracturing solutions. The importance of geomechanical properties is discussed here. This paper can be used to help operators obtain a broad overview of the reservoir to determine the best completion and stimulation approaches for unconventional development.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-69
Author(s):  
Marwa Hussein ◽  
Robert R. Stewart ◽  
Deborah Sacrey ◽  
Jonny Wu ◽  
Rajas Athale

Net reservoir discrimination and rock type identification play vital roles in determining reservoir quality, distribution, and identification of stratigraphic baffles for optimizing drilling plans and economic petroleum recovery. Although it is challenging to discriminate small changes in reservoir properties or identify thin stratigraphic barriers below seismic resolution from conventional seismic amplitude data, we have found that seismic attributes aid in defining the reservoir architecture, properties, and stratigraphic baffles. However, analyzing numerous individual attributes is a time-consuming process and may have limitations for revealing small petrophysical changes within a reservoir. Using the Maui 3D seismic data acquired in offshore Taranaki Basin, New Zealand, we generate typical instantaneous and spectral decomposition seismic attributes that are sensitive to lithologic variations and changes in reservoir properties. Using the most common petrophysical and rock typing classification methods, the rock quality and heterogeneity of the C1 Sand reservoir are studied for four wells located within the 3D seismic volume. We find that integrating the geologic content of a combination of eight spectral instantaneous attribute volumes using an unsupervised machine-learning algorithm (self-organizing maps [SOMs]) results in a classification volume that can highlight reservoir distribution and identify stratigraphic baffles by correlating the SOM clusters with discrete net reservoir and flow-unit logs. We find that SOM classification of natural clusters of multiattribute samples in the attribute space is sensitive to subtle changes within the reservoir’s petrophysical properties. We find that SOM clusters appear to be more sensitive to porosity variations compared with lithologic changes within the reservoir. Thus, this method helps us to understand reservoir quality and heterogeneity in addition to illuminating thin reservoirs and stratigraphic baffles.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yifei Xu ◽  
Priyesh Srivastava ◽  
Xiao Ma ◽  
Karan Kaul ◽  
Hao Huang

Abstract In this paper, we introduce an efficient method to generate reservoir simulation grids and modify the fault juxtaposition on the generated grids. Both processes are based on a mapping method to displace vertices of a grid to desired locations without changing the grid topology. In the gridding process, a grid that can capture stratigraphical complexity is first generated in an unfaulted space. The vertices of the grid are then displaced back to the original faulted space to become a reservoir simulation grid. The resulting reversely mapped grid has a mapping structure that allows fast and easy fault juxtaposition modification. This feature avoids the process of updating the structural framework and regenerating the reservoir properties, which may be time-consuming. To facilitate juxtaposition updates within an assisted history matching workflow, several parameterized fault throw adjustment methods are introduced. Grid examples are given for reservoirs with Y-faults, overturned bed, and complex channel-lobe systems.


Geophysics ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 354-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry Lines ◽  
Henry Tan ◽  
Sven Treitel ◽  
John Beck ◽  
Richard Chambers ◽  
...  

In 1992, there was a collaborative effort in reservoir geophysics involving Amoco, Conoco, Schlumberger, and Stanford University in an attempt to delineate variations in reservoir properties of the Grayburg unit in a West Texas [Formula: see text] pilot at North Cowden Field. Our objective was to go beyond traveltime tomography in characterizing reservoir heterogeneity and flow anisotropy. This effort involved a comprehensive set of measurements to do traveltime tomography, to image reflectors, to analyze channel waves for reservoir continuity, to study shear‐wave splitting for borehole stress‐pattern estimation, and to do seismic anisotropy analysis. All these studies were combined with 3-D surface seismic data and with sonic log interpretation. The results are to be validated in the future with cores and engineering data by history matching of primary, water, and [Formula: see text] injection performance. The implementation of these procedures should provide critical information on reservoir heterogeneities and preferential flow direction. Geophysical methods generally indicated a continuous reservoir zone between wells.


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