Deep Play
Exploration in the
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
AAPG Search and Discover Article #90063©2007 AAPG Annual Convention, Long Beach, California