Inland extent of the Weddell Sea Rift imaged by new aerogeophysical data

Peer reviewedPostprin

Structure Segmentation and Transfer Faults in the Marcellus Shale, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania: Implications for Gas Recovery Efficiency and Risk Assessment Using 3D Seismic Attribute Analysis

The Marcellus Shale has become an important unconventional gas reservoir in the oil and gas industry. Fractures within this organic-rich black shale serve as an important component of porosity and permeability useful in enhancing production. Horizontal drilling is the primary approach for extracting hydrocarbons in the Marcellus Shale. Typically, wells are drilled perpendicular to natural fractures in an attempt to intersect fractures for effective hydraulic stimulation. If the fractures are contained within the shale, then hydraulic fracturing can enhance permeability by further breaking the already weakened rock. However, natural fractures can affect hydraulic stimulations by absorbing and/or redirecting the energy away from the wellbore, causing a decreased efficiency in gas recovery, as has been the case for the Clearfield County, Pennsylvania study area. Estimating appropriate distances away from faults and fractures, which may limit hydrocarbon recovery, is essential to reducing the risk of injection fluid migration along these faults. In an attempt to mitigate the negative influences of natural fractures on hydrocarbon extraction within the Marcellus Shale, fractures were analyzed through the aid of both traditional and advanced seismic attributes including variance, curvature, ant tracking, and waveform model regression. Through the integration of well log interpretations and seismic data, a detailed assessment of structural discontinuities that may decrease the recovery efficiency of hydrocarbons was conducted. High-quality 3D seismic data in Central Pennsylvania show regional folds and thrusts above the major detachment interval of the Salina Salt. In addition to the regional detachment folds and thrusts, cross-regional, northwest-trending lineaments were mapped. These lineaments may pose a threat to hydrocarbon productivity and recovery efficiency due to faults and fractures acting as paths of least resistance for induced hydraulic stimulation fluids. These lineaments may represent major transfer faults that serve as pathways for hydraulic fluid migration. Detection and evaluation of fracture orientation and intensity and emphasis on the relationship between fracture intensity and production potential is of high interest in the study area as it entails significant time and cost implications for both conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon exploration and production

The impact of seismic interpretation methods on the analysis of faults: a case study from the Snøhvit field, Barents Sea

Five seismic interpretation experiments were conducted on an area of interest containing a fault relay in the Snøhvit field, Barents Sea, Norway, to understand how the interpretation method impacts the analysis of fault and horizon morphologies, fault lengths, and throw. The resulting horizon and fault interpretations from the least and most successful interpretation methods were further analysed to understand their impact on geological modelling and hydrocarbon volume calculation. Generally, the least dense manual interpretation method of horizons (32 inlines and 32 crosslines; 32 ILs × 32 XLs, 400 m) and faults (32 ILs, 400 m) resulted in inaccurate fault and horizon interpretations and underdeveloped relay morphologies and throw, which are inadequate for any detailed geological analysis. The densest fault interpretations (4 ILs, 50 m) and 3D auto-tracked horizons (all ILs and XLs spaced 12.5 m) provided the most detailed interpretations, most developed relay and fault morphologies, and geologically realistic throw distributions. Sparse interpretation grids generate significant issues in the model itself, which make it geologically inaccurate and lead to misunderstanding of the structural evolution of the relay. Despite significant differences between the two models, the calculated in-place petroleum reserves are broadly similar in the least and most dense experiments. However, when considered at field scale, the differences in volumes that are generated by the contrasting interpretation methodologies clearly demonstrate the importance of applying accurate interpretation strategies.publishedVersio

Geological parameterisation of petroleum reservoir models for improved uncertainty quantification

As uncertainty can never be removed from reservoir forecasts, the accurate quantification of uncertainty is the only appropriate method to make reservoir predictions. Bayes’ Theorem defines a framework by which the uncertainty in a reservoir can be ascertained by updating prior definitions of uncertainty with the mismatch between our simulation models and the measured production data. In the simplest version of the Bayesian methodology we assume that a realistic representation our field exists as a particular combination of model parameters from a set of uniform prior ranges. All models are believed to be initially equally likely, but are updated to new values of uncertainty based on the misfit between the historical and production data. Furthermore, most effort in reservoir uncertainty quantification and automated history matching has been applied to non-geological model parameters, preferring to leave the geological aspects of the reservoir static. While such an approach is the easiest to apply, the reality is that the majority of the reservoir uncertainty is sourced from the geological aspects of the reservoir, therefore geological parameters should be included in the prior and those priors should be conditioned to include the full amount of geological knowledge so as to remove combinations that are not possible in nature. This thesis develops methods of geological parameterisation to capture geological features and assess the impact of geologically derived non-uniform prior definitions and the choice of modelling method/interpretation on the quantification of uncertainty. A number of case studies are developed, using synthetic models and a real field data set, that show the inclusion of geological prior data reduces the amount of quantified uncertainty and improves the performance of sampling. The framework allows the inclusion of any data type, to reflect the variety of geological information sources. ii Errors in the interpretation of the geology and/or the choice of an appropriate modelling method have an impact on the quantified uncertainty. In the cases developed in this thesis all models were able to produce good history matches, but the differences in the models lead to differences in the amount of quantified uncertainty. The result is that each quantification would lead to different development decisions and that the a combination of several models may be required when a single modelling approach cannot be defined. The overall conclusion to the work is that geological prior data should be used in uncertainty quantification to reduce the uncertainty in forecasts by preventing bias from non-realistic models

Trap Analysis of “Covenant” Field in Niger Delta, Nigeria

The tendency to identify leaking zones is essential tool in trap assessment. Faults play an important role in creation of hydrocarbon traps. For volumetric analysis of a field to be meaningful, it is essential to analyze the faults contributing to the accumulation of hydrocarbons in a trap. These faults may be sealing or act as conduit to fluid flow. Analysis of trap is therefore carried out with the aim to reduce the uncertainties associated with hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation in Niger-Delta using “Covenant” field as a case study. The aim of the study is achieved using three dimensional seismic and well log data. Three reservoirs were mapped on the field while the fault supporting the identified trap was analyzed via throw, shale volume, shale gouge ratio, and hydrocarbon column heights attributes. The volume of shale model shows the presence of shale and sandstone formations in the fault plane. The fault-horizon’s intersection (throw) model reveals that the horizons were not too deviated from where the maximum fault’s displacement was noticed. The estimated shale gouge ratio of the fault on the analyzed trap reveals that the shallow sand horizon is supported by moderate sealing plane while that of mid and deep sand horizons are supported by proper sealing fault plane. The hydrocarbon column height model reveals a column height of 120m supports the shallow sand horizon while column heights È 180m support the mid and deep sand horizons respectively. It was inferred that despite the three horizons are supported by sealing fault zone, leakage still occurs at shallow sand horizon which correspond to a moderately sealed plane from SGR

Seismic velocity structure of seaward-dipping reflectors on the South American continental margin

Seaward dipping reflectors (SDRs) are a key feature within the continent to ocean transition zone of volcanic passive margins. Here we conduct an automated pre-stack depth-migration imaging analysis of commercial seismic data from the volcanic margins of South America. The method used an isotropic, ray-based approach of iterative velocity model building based on the travel time inversion of residual pre-stack depth migration move-out. We find two distinct seismic velocity patterns within the SDRs. While both types show a general increase in velocity with depth consistent with expected compaction and alteration/metamorphic trends, those SDRs that lie within faulted half grabens also have high velocity zones at their down-dip ends. The velocity anomalies are generally concordant with the reflectivity and so we attribute them to the presence of dolerite sills that were injected into the lava pile. The sills therefore result from late-stage melt delivery along the large landward-dipping faults that bound them. In contrast the more outboard SDRs show no velocity anomalies, are more uniform spatially and have unfaulted basal contacts. Our observations imply that the SDRs document a major change in rift architecture, with magmatism linked with early extension and faulting of the upper brittle crust transitioning into more organised, dike-fed eruptions similar to seafloor spreading

Shallow structure beneath the Central Volcanic Complex of Tenerife from new gravity data: implications for its evolution and recent reactivation

We present a new local Bouguer anomaly map of the Central Volcanic Complex (CVC) of Tenerife, Spain, constructed from the amalgamation of 323 new high precision gravity measurements with existing gravity data from 361 observations. The new anomaly map images the high-density core of the CVC and the pronounced gravity low centred in the Las Cañadas caldera in greater detail than previously available. Mathematical construction of a sub-surface model from the local anomaly data, employing a 3D inversion based on 'growing' the sub-surface density distribution via the aggregation of cells, enables mapping of the shallow structure beneath the complex, giving unprecedented insights into the sub-surface architecture. We find the resultant density distribution in agreement with geological and other geophysical data. The modelled sub-surface structure supports a vertical collapse origin of the caldera, and maps the headwall of the ca. 180 ka Icod landslide, which appears to lie buried beneath the Pico Viejo–Pico Teide stratovolcanic complex. The results allow us to put into context the recorded ground deformation and gravity changes at the CVC during its reactivation in spring 2004 in relation to its dominant structural building blocks. For example, the areas undergoing the most significant changes at depth in recent years are underlain by low-density material and are aligned along long-standing structural entities, which have shaped this volcanic ocean island over the past few million years