Deep Play Exploration in the Mature Niger Delta Basin – An appraisal of Risks and Challenges (Best of EAGE)

Olaleye, Babatope¹, R.N. Basorun² (1) ENI/AGIP, Port Harcourt, Nigeria (2) Nigerian AGIP Oil Company Ltd, N/A,

Some attempts have been made in the past by some of the major operators to explore the deep plays with no exciting results owing to some overwhelming challenges. A major risk factor in the branding of any deep prospect is the accuracy of the trap imaging. A spectrum of seismic methodologies has evolved over time in response to the issue of enhancing the image resolution of the deep plays.

The quality of reservoir at critical target depths is a fundamental issue in the evaluation of deep prospect for hydrocarbon volumes. The application of high resolution sequence and seismic stratigraphy has allowed the prediction of sand fairways and their environments of deposition. The evolution of petro-acoustic analysis and multi-attributes inversion in seismic stratigraphy has produced tools for the prediction with good probability, reservoir qualities and petrophysical parameters and their distribution within an area/volume of interest.

The primary challenges the explorationists face include the prediction of hydrocarbon presence in terms of type and volumes, pore pressure prediction and issues of completion and production engineering in an intimidating HPHT environment. These challenges make deep play exploration a high risk venture as at now in the mature Niger delta basin