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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
Houston Geological Society Bulletin
Abstract
Abstract: Reservoir-Scale Carbonate Sequence Stratigraphy,
McKittrick Canyon, and 3-D Subsurface Examples
By
Marathon Oil Company - Petroleum Technology Center
A principal goal of reservoir characterization
is to derive a spatial understanding of
interwell heterogeneity. Traditionally, geological
attempts to characterize interwell
heterogeneity have used hand-drawn or
computer-generated 2-D map and cross
sections. Results can improve dramatically
using 3-D interpretation and analysis techniques.
The goal of three-dimensional geologic modeling is to construct an accurate,
digital depiction of a three-dimensional
body of rock The hypothesis of this paper
is that the stratigraphic framework exerts a
primary control on the accuracy of a 3-D
reservoir model and that a sequence-stratigraphic
interpretation results in the most
accurate stratigraphic framework.
In order to test the hypothesis, an experiment had to be designed in which a "known" sequence-stratigraphic framework interpretation could be compared to an alternative lithostratigraphic framework interpretation. The continuous, well-exposed, shelf-to-basin outcrops of the carbonate-dominated Permian Seven Rivers, Yates, and Capitan Formations along the north wall of North McKittrick Canyon, New Mexico and Texas, provide the ideal laboratory in which a sequence-stratigraphic interpretation can be made with a high degree of confidence. The data collected from McKittrick Canyon were used to create two 3-D reservoir models, one with a sequence-stratigraphic framework and one with a lithostratigraphic framework. Model results, including lithofacies distribution, volumetric calculations, and synthetic seismic were compared against the "known" interpretation in order to test the hypothesis. Unfortunately, in contrast to the outcrop, subsurface data are always limited. Interpreting the sequence-stratigraphic framework is the most difficult and creative part of the 3-D modeling process and involves integrating all available core, wireline log, seismic, and production data in order to arrive at a reasonable stratigraphic interpretation.
This paper will be presented in three sections.
The first section
will discuss the mechanics
of 3-D reservoir modeling and illustrate
the conceptual importance of a correct
stratigraphic framework. The second
section
will introduce the detailed sequence-
stratigraphic interpretation of the
carbonate-dominated outcrop exposures in
McKittrick Canyon. Results from the 3-D
reservoir models in McKittrick Canyon will
be presented that: 1) quantify the importance
of a correct stratigraphic framework;
2) illustrate the differences in reservoir
compartment distribution as a function of
stratigraphic framework and well spacing;
and 3) confirm the hypothesis that the stratigraphic framework exerts a primary control
on the accuracy of a 3-D reservoir
model. Finally, highlights from several 3-
D reservoir models will be presented to
illustrate the importance of a sequence-stratigraphic
interpretation and the positive
impact that an accurate 3-D model has on
reservoir management.
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