--> Abstract: Quantification of Exploration Risk with 3D Integrated Basin Simulation, by G. P. Moeckel D. P. Schmitt, A. A. Walsh, R. W. Jones, and C. T. Tan; #90942 (1997).

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Abstract: Quantification of Exploration Risk with 3D Integrated Basin Simulation

MOECKEL, GEORGE P.; D. P. SCHMITT; A.A. WALSH; R.W. JONES, C. T. TAN

SEXTANT is a 3D, integrated basin simulator with numerical modeling features capable of quantifying many of the important geochemical, geomechanical and fluid flow processes occurring in a basin. This simulator is currently being applied to evaluate exploration drilling opportunities throughout the world. With SEXTANT, we are able to model coupled basin processes such as sedimentary deposition, burial and compaction, structural evolution, uplift and erosion, faulting, thermal evolution, petroleum generation and expulsion, fluid migration, petroleum accumulation and seal integrity/leakage. Our 3D basin simulator is equipped with a compositional kinetic model calibrated with laboratory and field data for standard and customized kerogen types. The physical and thermal properties of the three fluid phases (petroleum vapor, liquid petroleum and aqueous) are determined through equations of state, PVT relationships and engineering correlations dependent upon temperature, pressure and composition. We solve the coupled equations of component mass balance, phase momentum balance, mixture energy balance, rock movement/compaction and pore volume balance by a discretized finite volume method.

Integrated basin simulation with SEXTANT provides a valuable tool for quantified risk assessment of exploration drilling opportunities by: prediction of volumes of petroleum trapped in a reservoir, estimation of the quality of entrapped petroleum and prediction of the timing of petroleum generation and migration relative to structural and stratigraphic trap formation. There are increasing opportunities for application of integrated basin simulation to production/development exploitation activities including: integration of production data, selection of optimal drill sites based on migration pathways and volumes of petroleum entrapped as well as the discrimination of petroleum quality and distribution in potential reservoirs.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90942©1997 AAPG International Conference and Exhibition, Vienna, Austria