--> Development Drilling in Correlation with Hydrocarbon Microseepage Signatures, by D. Hitzman, J. D. Tucker, and B. A. Rountree; #90986 (1994).

Datapages, Inc.Print this page

Abstract: Development Drilling in Correlation with Hydrocarbon Microseepage Signatures

Daniel Hitzman, James D. Tucker, Brooks A. Rountree

In mature hydrocarbon production regions it is necessary to identify offset and missed production. The detailed use of an exploration tool, the microbial oil survey technique (MOST), in a producing reservoir in Oklahoma in 1993 demonstrated the new application of a surface geochemical technique for development geology. Hydrocarbon microseepage patterns within the active waterflood production unit identified by-passed reserves, reservoir barriers, and predicted a successful offset well prior to drilling.

A total of 441 shallow soil samples were collected every 100 yards covering a total area of 1.25 sq mi of Sullivan and Company's Southeast Vassar Vertz Sand Unit in Payne County, Oklahoma. A permeability barrier is mapped through part of the reservoir. Microseepage signature patterns, as measured by select microbial populations, were mapped and compared to the sand unit thicknesses, well locations and waterflood sweep patterns, injection and production rates, and permeability barriers.

MOST is based on the presence of hydrocarbon microseeps above buried reservoirs. Microseeps are detected by observing the concentrations and distributions of hydrocarbon-indicating microorganisms found in shallow soils. When the upward-migrating hydrocarbon gases from hydrocarbon reservoirs enter the shallow soil environment, they are utilized by a specific group of microorganisms. High microbial population distributions are therefore reliable indicators of hydrocarbon gas migration. Microbial data is presented both in absolute and statistically smoothed format. Maps, tables, and charts demonstrate the correlation between microbial microseepage patterns and reservoir production parameters.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90986©1994 AAPG Annual Convention, Denver, Colorado, June 12-15, 1994