Reservoir
Compartmentalization
through Geochemical and Sedimentological Investigations; Example from Sirt Basin
oil field, Libya
By
Alain Noyau1, Louai Machhour2
(1) TOTALFINAELF, PAU Cedex, France (2) TOTALFINAELF, PARIS la Défense Cedex, France
The oil field studied (Sirt Basin, Libya) is represented by two structures
(West &
East
). The west structure can be separated into 3 depositional areas
(Northern, central and southern).
Uncertainties in the lateral continuity of the
reservoir
unit are suspected
in each area. However, an extensive continuity of this
reservoir
from the North
to the South of the West structure is not clearly demonstrated. A
reservoir
sedimentology and geochemistry studies was performed on several core wells and
production oil samples collected from the West and the
East
structures with the
following objectives:
-
To clarify the lateral continuity and communication of the
reservoir
unit
in each area from the West structure. If lateral barriers can be highlighted,
the different hinge points suspected to correspond to
reservoir
discontinuities
would be proposed,
-
To evaluate the lateral continuity/discontinuity of the
reservoir
between
the West and
East
structures. In the West structure the analysis suggests that
the oil collected in the
reservoir
unit exhibits 3 distinct geochemical
signatures probably due to
reservoir
disconnection or compartmentalization.
From a sedimentological viewpoint, this
reservoir
heterogeneity can have two
different origins: 1) Tectonic origin (faults) and/or 2) Sedimentary origin
(disconnected
reservoir
bodies, diagenetical events, etc.).
The
East
structure does not show any difference in the oil composition. This
result seems to show that the reservoirs are laterally connected.
Sedimentological analyses reveal that all the wells of the
East
structure do not
exactly correspond to the same depositional environments but contrasts in facies
and
reservoir
characteristics are not important enough to induce lateral
compartmentalization of the carbonate
reservoir
unit.