Regional Analysis of Residual Oil Zone Potential in the Permian Basin

Abstract

This study provides independent analysis of Residual Oil Zones (ROZs) in the Permian Basin from a regional perspective, focusing on the formation mechanism and present ROZ locations. Results demonstrate widespread potential for ROZs, defined here as thick volumes of reservoir rock containing near-residual saturations of predominantly immobile oil formed by natural imbibition and displacement of oil by dynamic buoyant or hydrodynamic forces. Previous work suggests hydrodynamic forces generated by regional tectonic uplift drove widespread oil remobilization and ROZ creation. To test the hypothesis, uplift and tilting are quantified and the resulting maximum regional potentiometric gradient used as a physical constraint to compute and compare predicted ROZ thicknesses from hydrodynamics for several ROZ-bearing San Andres fields with known ROZ thicknesses. Late-Albian Edwards Group geologic contacts, deposits interpreted as near sea level prior to uplift, are used as a regional datum. Elevations determined for the present datum show ~1800 m of differential uplift since Edwards deposition, with an average regional slope of ~0.128 degrees. Using regional tilting as a proxy for peak hydrodynamic forces, predicted ROZ thickness resulting from hydrodynamic forces is consistent with measured ROZ thickness at several fields. When compared with countervailing buoyancy forces, hydrodynamics is calculated to be the more dominant driving force of oil movement for reservoirs with structural dips less than 1.5 degrees, which is the common dip for San Andres Formation platform deposits where ROZs have been identified. To predict the location of ROZs, ROZ-related oil field properties were identified and analyzed for over 2,800 Permian Basin reservoirs. A strong basin-wide correlation between API and crude sulfur content is consistent with the expected outcome of oil degradation driven by oil-water interaction, and supports the use of API and sulfur content as proxies for ROZ potential in the Permian Basin. Spatial analysis of sulfur data shows that the highest probability for ROZ existence exists in Leonardian through Guadalupian-age reservoirs, distributed primarily in shelf and platform areas of Permian structures. Combined, these results support the widespread potential for ROZs across the Permian Basin generated primarily by regional scale tilting and resultant hydrodynamic forces.

AAPG Datapages/Search and Discovery Article #90216 ©2015 AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition, Denver, CO., May 31 - June 3, 2015