Quantitative Seismic Interpretation for the Characterization of Clastic Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico

Quantitative Seismic Interpretation for the Characterization of Clastic Reservoirs in the Gulf of Mexico

Saavedra Castañeda, D.A.

Storms, J.E.A. (mentor)
Diephuis, G. (mentor)
Barnhoorn, A. (mentor)

Civil Engineering and Geosciences

Geoscience & Engineering

2016-08-18

New reserves are necessary to compensate the oil depletion of the giant fields in the Gulf of Mexico. This work covers a reservoir characterization workflow of Pliocene shallow marine deltaic sandstone deposits located in the south eastern Gulf Mexico. The traditional reservoir characterization workflow is considered a multidisciplinary integration process in geological and geophysical data is used with the purpose of defining the geometry, internal properties distribution, lateral extension and flow properties of a petroleum reservoir unit. In this study the geological information provided from cores will allow for the understanding of the internal architecture of the reservoir. A petrophysical evaluation was performed in which flow properties such as porosity, permeability, net to gross, and fluid saturations were obtained. Traditional seismic data, has been used for generating a subsurface map of the reservoir units. Sadly, the use of seismic data is subject to a resolution limitation. A novel aspect of the workflow is presented in this thesis: the incorporation of elastic parameters derived from a simultaneous pre stack inversion, which provided the necessary tools to accurately and quantitatively understand the lateral distribution of the reservoir unit. As a result of the reservoir characterization workflow, a reserve estimation was calculated for the newly discovered field. The use of seismic quantitative methods for reservoir characterization helped to correctly delimitate the fluid content and reservoir properties of the field. This will reduce the uncertainty associated with drilling new wells during field development stage.

P Impedance
Reservoir Characterization
Static Model

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:74776d89-3095-4fa8-b38f-8f9996f243f3

2018-12-31

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2016 Saavedra Castañeda, D.A.