The Acquisition and Use of Outcrop Analogue Data in Reservoir Characterisation

Tobi Payenberg¹ and Simon C. Lang^2
1Energy Technology Company, Chevron Energy Technology PTY LTD, Perth, WA, Australia
²Woodside Energy Ltd, Perth, WA, Australia

Petroleum companies need to overcome uncertainties in reservoir and seal continuity prediction at all stages of field appraisal and development. Because of the common scarcity of data to reveal the lateral continuity of geobodies, analogue data is used as a mean to estimate continuity. A common challenge in the industry is the prediction of reservoir continuity which leads to great uncertainly in a geological model. Therefore, good quality analogue data is imperative to building good reservoir models.

Outcrop analogues can be used to reduce a variety of uncertainties. The most frequent usage is that of supplementing depositional architecture. Width:thickness:length ratios, and lateral facies relationships can rarely be investigated in any other way. But fracture patterns, post-depositional deformation, faulting and diagenesis are also aspects that can be assessed using outcrop analogues.

The way in which outcrop analogue data is acquired is extremely important for the industry. Because data acquisition is very time intensive, it is ideally suited for the academe. It provides superb training for students and early career researchers, and often enables adventurous travels to remote locations. However, for the outcrop data to be useful in subsurface predictions, close collaboration and dialogue between industry and academe is needed. In addition, outcrop data acquisition and interpretation takes time, and long lead times and foresight for the results have to be taken into account by all parties.

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