--> Abstract: A Comparative Study of Reservoir Modeling Techniques in Fluvial-Deltaic Reservoirs Using from Outcrop-Based Benchmark Model, by Peter E. Deveugle, Matthew D. Jackson, Hampson J. Gary, Martyn D. Clough, Thaddeus I. Ehighebolo, Iftikhar Khattak, and Jonathan Stewart; #90078 (2008)

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A Comparative Study of Reservoir Modeling Techniques in Fluvial-Deltaic Reservoirs Using from Outcrop-Based Benchmark Model

Peter E. Deveugle1, Matthew D. Jackson1, Hampson J. Gary1, Martyn D. Clough2, Thaddeus I. Ehighebolo3, Iftikhar Khattak1, and Jonathan Stewart4
1Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
2Chevron Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
3Shell UK Ltd, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
4ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, Houston, TX

Multiple techniques now exist for constructing geologic and property models, and it is not clear which is the most appropriate for capturing heterogeneity and fluid flow in different reservoir types. We have used a high-resolution, reservoir-scale (4000 x 7000 x 50 m) geologic model of part of the Ferron Sandstone, a well-exposed analogue for fluvial-dominated deltaic reservoirs that outcrops in central Utah, as a benchmark to compare grid-based stochastic modelling techniques (object and sequential indicator simulation). The outcrop model is not constructed using either of these techniques, so provides an unbiased standard. The stochastic models are constrained using a subset of the outcrop model that mimics a typical subsurface dataset. The dynamic behaviour of the models is compared using streamline simulation.

The main factor affecting recovery from the stochastic models is the three-dimensional facies distribution conceptualised in the underlying geologic interpretation. Different geologic interpretations that honour the same pseudo-subsurface dataset yield significant deviations in recovery factor relative to the benchmark model, because they impose different spatial distributions and continuities of delta-lobe sandbodies. The interpreted distribution of distributary and/or fluvial channel sandstones that can erode through lobe-bounding shales is particularly important in controlling sandbody connectivity and sweep. The impact of the stochastic technique chosen to model a given geologic interpretation is relatively small. Both of the studied modelling algorithms overestimate the recovery factor relative to the benchmark model, but for a given interpretation, the object based method better reproduces the dynamic behaviour of the outcrop benchmark model.

 

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90078©2008 AAPG Annual Convention, San Antonio, Texas