Abstract: Merging Basic Science and Applied Reservoir Characterization Research: An Effective Approach for Assisting Industry in Field Optimization for Incremental Recovery of Oil and Gas

Raymond A. Levey, Noel Tyler, Shirley P. Dutton, Charles Kerans, F. Jerry Lucia

Using a dual approach of basic research and applied field-optimization studies, Bureau geoscientists are helping industry maximize the recovery of oil and gas in stratigraphically complex reservoirs. Basic research on reservoir architecture is supported by two industrial associates programs that are evaluating siliciclastic reservoirs (Characterization of Heterogeneity Style and Permeability Structure in a Sequence Stratigraphic Framework in Fluvial-Deltaic Reservoirs) and carbonate reservoirs (Characterization of Carbonate Reservoirs) by combining outcrop analogs of major reservoir types and subsurface reservoir studies. In these two programs, high-frequency sequence stratigraphic analysis--along with analyses of rock fabric, permeability structure, bounding surfaces, and reservoir stacking patterns--is being evaluated in order to simulate interwell heterogeneity and its effect on fluid flow. Results are transferred to more than 25 companies worldwide through workshops, field courses, mentor programs, reports, journal articles, preprints, and data sets. Research results from oil and gas field-optimization studies in North America, South America, and Australia have combined play assessment, detailed sequence stratigraphic and depositional-system analyses, and reservoir characterization to strategically deploy technology and achieve reserve growth in fields that have been producing for as long as 50 years. Geocellullar modeling and three-dimensional visualization of geologic, petrophysical, and engineering data are critical to establishing accurate estimates of original oil in place and remaining mobile oil. Reservoir settings, including tide-dominated deltaic, shelf, fluvial, and lacustrine-delta depositional systems, have been targeted for new infield wells, recompletions, and step-out locations. Proven reserves of more than 450 million barrels of remaining mobile oil have been identified in one field optimization study.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90956©1995 AAPG International Convention and Exposition Meeting, Nice, France