Using Digital Imagery of Modern Isolated Carbonate Platforms to Create a Reservoir Model to Obtain More Efficient Recovery Methods; Belize and Mexico
J. J. Lodge
Department of Geosciences, Texas Tech University
There are four isolated carbonate platforms off the coast of Belize which belong to a 600 km long reef system: Glovers Reef, Lighthouse Reef, Turneffe Islands, and Banco Chinchorro. Alacran, just off the coast of Mexico in the southernmost region of the Gulf of Mexico, belongs to the Campeche Bank Reef. Each of these platforms has a unique facies distribution which allow for classification using digital images. Using a modern carbonate environment as an analog for the subsurface is a common occurrence in the petroleum industry today, but qualitative analysis of these environments leaves much room for interpretation.
Each facies reflects light at a specific wavelength. It is the use of these reflective properties which allow for the classification and statistical analysis of each platform. Images of each platform were classified using 30 meter resolution Landsat images along with minor coverage of Ikonos imagery. The Ikonos includes a 1 meter resolution panchromatic layer with four separate multispectral images of 4 meter spatial resolution. The data from both methods of imagery will be compared to determine if higher resolution images effect the overall classification.
This quantitative data gathered from each image will be transferred into Petra in order to create a reservoir model, along with comparison between each platform. This statistical analysis will allow for a better understanding of ancient environments that are encountered in the subsurface, which is much more detailed than a qualitative interpretation, and will also allow for the opportunity to obtain more efficient recovery methods.
AAPG Search and Discover Article #90087 © 2008 AAPG/SEG Student Expo, Houston, Texas