Three-Dimensional Fluvial Architecture and Reservoir Modeling of the Green River Formation (Eocene), Southwest Uinta Basin, Utah

Jessica Moore Ali-Adeeb¹, Cari L. Johnson¹, Bradley D. Ritts², Renaud Bouroullec³, and Rosalind Archer^4
1 University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
² Utah State University, Logan, UT
³ The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
⁴ University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Lacustrine strata are important components of petroleum systems worldwide, yet reservoir architecture is difficult to predict in these notoriously heterogeneous systems. This project presents a high-resolution, three-dimensional sequence stratigraphic interpretation of Eocene (Green River Formation) fluvio-deltaic successions in the Nine Mile Canyon area, Uinta Basin.

This project uses ground-based lidar to obtain a three-dimensional digital model of the study area. The model includes tens of millions of data points with centimeter resolution encompassing approximately nine linear kilometers in Parley and Argyle canyons. Photopans were interpreted in conjunction with eight measured sections tied to major bounding surfaces determined in the field. Bounding surfaces vary based on lithofacies assemblage and affect reservoir complexity and heterogeneity. These geologic constraints were overlain on the lidar data mesh, and imported to a reservoir modeling program to predict fluid flow and migration paths through the channel sands. The lidar study also provides a means of quantifying dimensions such as sinuosity, size and shape of the channel bodies encountered.

These results have both economic and academic significance. Geostatistical data and fluid flow modeling were applied to the model, providing better documentation and visualization of the effects of geological heterogeneity and compartmentalization in similar hydrocarbon reservoirs. This quantitative modeling may be used in predicting subsurface reservoir quality and dimensions, and may be extrapolated to other fluvio-deltaic lacustrine prospects around the world. A better understanding of non-marine sequence stratigraphy, fluvial processes at paleolacustrine margins, and the ability to quantify dimensions of these ancient fluvial processes are also achieved.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005