--> Abstract: Application of Integrated Geological, Geophysical, and Engineering Analysis in Identifying Compartmented Reservoirs, Boonsville Field, Fort Worth Basin, Texas, by D. S. Hamilton, B. A. Hardage, R. J. Finley, D. Carr, D. E. Lancaster, and R. Y. Elphick; #90942 (1997).

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Abstract: Application of Integrated Geological, Geophysical, and Engineering Analysis in Identifying Compartmented Reservoirs, Boonsville Field, Fort Worth Basin, Texas

HAMILTON, D.S., B.A. HARDAGE, R.J. FINLEY, D. CARR, D.E. LANCASTER, and R.Y. ELPHICK

Reserve growth resources in the Midcontinent region of the United States total as much as 41 Tcf. This reserve growth opportunity arises primarily because of the highly compartmented character of the Midcontinent reservoirs. This study focused on the Bend Conglomerate sequence at Boonsville field, Fort Worth Basin, Texas, as a reservoir typical of the low-accommodation, cratonic Midcontinent depositional setting. The study integrated geological, engineering, and geophysical analysis, including a 26 sq mi 3-D seismic survey.

Pressure and production data provide the most compelling evidence for compartmentalization because new wells drilled in the field frequently find pressures in one or more of the Bend sequences that are at or near the original pressures encountered during initial field development more than 40 years ago. The geological analysis aided by interpretation of the 3-D seismic data volume identified 13 third-order genetic stratigraphic sequences that are defined and bounded by impermeable deep-shelf shales representing maximum flooding events. Within the major sequences, high-frequency, autocyclic processes caused abrupt shifts in the depositional systems tracts resulting in facies variability over short lateral distances.

Three styles of reservoir compartmentalization were identified: structural, stratigraphic, and a combination of the two. Structural compartments are caused by low-displacement faulting, most commonly associated with karst collapse in deeper carbonate rocks, that produced structurally isolated fault blocks. The faulting is widespread, but subtle, and neither vertical displacements nor fault-block geometries can be mapped without 3-D seismic data. Stratigraphic compartments may be bounded laterally by facies transitions or complete porosity occlusion caused by diagenetic processes, and vertically by the impermeable surface or sequence boundaries. Combination-style compartments have both structural and stratigraphic elements.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90942©1997 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Vienna, Austria