An Integrated Approach to Predict Filling History and Fluid Composition of Satellite Prospects

Bernard Carpentier*, Jean-Luc Rudkiewicz, and Muriel Thibaut
IFP, France
*[email protected]

In mature basins, most of the exploration is oriented towards satellite prospects. The difficulty in their detection lies in a reliable evaluation of their economic interest. Indeed, the interest in such prospects is very sensitive to the trap volume and the quality and composition of the producible hydrocarbon fluids. Trap volume and hydrocarbon quality can only be predicted through a detailed reconstruction of the reservoir and its hydrocarbon infilling evolution. It is necessary to take into account, as a function of the geological time: (1) the structural evolution and faulting of the area; (2) the initial facies distribution and diagenesis; and (3) the fluid maturation and migration with a fine compositional description. Such a time-related filling is classically taken into account at basin-scale but rarely applied to the fetch area of giant fields where the satellites are searched for. Here we propose an integrated approach that takes advantage of the well-known geochemical information from the discovered large structures to calibrate the trapping and composition of the satellite structures. The approach, which uses softwares originally developed for basin-scale exploration, is based on the combination of tools for structural reconstruction (Kine3D), fine simulation of facies distribution (Dionisos), high-resolution compositional kinetics and migration/dismigration scenarios (TemisSuite) and uncertainty evaluation (QUBS).

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90077©2008 GEO 2008 Middle East Conference and Exhibition, Manama, Bahrain