--> Multivariate Analysis of Geologic and Engineering Parameters on Petroleum Production in the Niobrara Formation

2014 Rocky Mountain Section AAPG Annual Meeting

Datapages, Inc.Print this page

Multivariate Analysis of Geologic and Engineering Parameters on Petroleum Production in the Niobrara Formation

Abstract

Studies that model the relationship between petroleum production, geology and engineering parameters indicate that six of top eight factors that contribute to ultimate recovery are inherited from nature. At the same time, bivariate comparisons of petroleum production, geologic information and engineering data have shown moderate to poor correlation (r values <0.6) in two-dimensional space (Welker et al., 2013) This study utilizes principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis to expose the complex relationships between production, geology and engineering across a range of source rock maturities and well types in the Niobrara play. Analysis of the data (from Silo Field, the Hereford area and the Greater Wattenberg Area) demonstrates that some properties can substitute for others in the prediction of ultimate recovery. The analysis also reveals that current data density in these areas may not adequately represent the homogeneity (both vertically and geographically) to clearly define the relationships this work hoped to expose.