Reservoir Characterization and Management, Role and Contribution in Improving Hydrocarbon Productivity, Zeit Bay Field, Gulf of Suez, Egypt

Khaled M. Abdallah, Saber M. Selim, Samir A. Abd El-Aal, and Abd El-Azim El-Sayed
Suez Oil Company "SUCO", Mohandseen, Egypt

Reservoir characterization plays an important role in defining, in a comprehensive manner, the details distribution of reservoir rocks and fluids content with the ultimate goal of a reservoir management scheme. Reservoir management aims to provide facts, information and knowledge necessary to control production operations and to optimally develop any oil field by obtaining the maximum possible economic recovery from the reservoir units. The reservoir characterization model embodies the integration of the technical disciplines of the exploration, reservoir engineering production and financial and usually accomplishes prior to or contemporaneously with the development phase of the oil field. Existing test and production data are also used to develop a better understanding of reservoir dynamics and to improve the depositional model of the reservoir.

 This study describes the Reservoir Characterization Model of Zeit Bay field, Gulf of Suez, Egypt. The field represents one of the most complicated oil fields as it comprises several reservoirs in complete hydraulic communication, making it one of the unique reservoirs. Hydrocarbons are produced from all the porous and permeable intervals from Hammam Faraun member of Belayim Formation down to Pre-Cambrian Fracture Basement. All available data and techniques were used to construct this model aiming to: 1) Maximize profitability from the hydrocarbon reserves. 2) Identify and model of reservoir units that predict the content and the production behavior of wells. 3) Explain the past reservoir units performance and predict the future performance of the field. 4) Formulate a plan for the development of the reservoir units in the field.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005