Searching for Productive Analogs Using Global Database as from Effective Way to Eliminating Primary Risks in Frontier Areas

Valentin Kolesov and Valery Glazkov
PANGEA Inc., Moscow, Russian Federation

When the dataset is not sufficient for constructing a solid basin model, the risks of charging, sealing, presence of reservoir quality rocks can not be addressed properly. At the same time for frontier regions a lot of data exist covering the territory with sparse grid of observations. These data allow to compare general geological settings of an area of interest with other areas including already discovered fields in well known basins.

The idea is that sedimentation, oil generation&migration, tectonics&subsidence, rocks diagenesis conditions are related to thicknesses of major sequences, temperature gradient, distance to major faults, gravity anomalies etc. which were mapped on huge territories covering most of sedimentation basins. Using global database including all these maps together with the set of maps, derived from the initial data, allow to significantly reduce primary geological risks.

The cases from Libya and Russia demonstrates the successful application of the methodology. For Libyan part of Ghadames basin about 87% of dry exploration wells hit the areas for which no productive analogs were found in North Africa basins. At the same time new El Sharara discoveries are located in zones predicted as prospective.

In Western Siberia a large prospective area was predicted in the peripheral part of Khanty-Mansiisk region though the territory was rated low by most of geologists. Three fields were discovered in the territory after the prediction thus confirming the approach effectiveness.

AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Cape Town, South Africa 2008 © AAPG Search and Discovery