Harrold, Toby¹, Greg Riley¹, Nazim Abdullayev¹, Stephan Duppenbecker¹, Nicolas Mine², David Day¹, Kelk Simon¹
(1) BP, Sunbury on Thames, United Kingdom
(2) Earth Decision Sciences, London, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT: Integrated Pore Pressure Analysis for Prospectivity and Drillability in the South Caspian Basin

Recent exploration wells in the South Caspian Basin have revealed a complex petroleum system where pore pressure has a strong influence on both drillability and prospectivity. Seal capacity is controlled by the interaction of a high pressured shale-rich overburden and a regional aquifer system which is connected by varying degrees to leak points or outcrops on the sea-bed / outcrops on the Baku archipelago.
To date no single approach to pore pressure prediction has given consistently accurate results. Therefore, to improve our predictions, we integrate the results of basin modelling, petrophysical, seismic and offset well analysis.
We show examples from the South Caspian basin where we have integrated pressure data on a regional scale to understand the prospectivity of one of our exploration targets. We also show how we have performed more prospect specific analysis to tackle the drillability issues for well planning and implementation.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90026©2004 AAPG Annual Meeting, Dallas, Texas, April 18-21, 2004.