A Geological, Petrophysical and Reservoir Performance-Based Characterization of the Womack Hill (Smackover) Field (Alabama, USA)

Tom Blasingame², Rosalind Archer¹, Wayne Ahr², Charles Haynes³, Ernie Mancini³, Brian Panetta^3
1University of Auckland
²Texas A&M University
³University of Alabama,

In this work we provide an integrated reservoir study of the Womack Hill Field located in Southern Alabama using geological, petrophysical and reservoir performance data. Womack Hill Field is one of more than 150 Smackover oil fields located in the Mississippi Interior Salt Basin. It is important to note that many of these Smackover reservoirs are defined by large-scale faulting (as is the case at Womack Hill). Womack Hill Field is located on the border of Choctaw and Clarke counties, Alabama. Hydrocarbon production is obtained from the Jurassic sequence consisting of the Smackover and Norphlet formations. The upper part of the Smackover formation is uniform throughout the Gulf Coast region. It consists of a progradational shoaling-upward sequence of open-shelf pelleted micrite facies, mixed-allochem facies, high energy shoal facies and lagoonal carbonate mudstone and dolomite facies.

The input data for this study are the following:

1. Extensive geologic description of Smackover reservoir at Womack Hill Field derived from well logs and core data.
2. Abundant sidewall core data (of varying quality).
3. An initial black oil fluid study.
4. Extensive oil and water production data history (although virtually no pressure data are available).

Our work in this study has focused on the development of an integrated reservoir description for use in numerical modeling and forecasting. The rationale for the study is to evaluate EOR potential and possible additional field development.

This study has produced the following results:

1. Correlation of existing core and well log data.
2. Generation of spatial distributions of petrophysical properties.
3. Analysis of all production and injection data — and correlation of these results with the petrophysical data.
4. Development and validation of a "full-field" numerical model for the Womack Hill Field.

The results of this study demonstrate the correlation of petrophysical and well performance data -- as a mechanism to generate a base model for numerical simulation. This work is presented as a complete analysis and integration of geological, petrophysical, and reservoir performance data. The approach of this work can easily and effectively be extended to other fields.