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Houston Geological Society Bulletin

Abstract


Houston Geological Society Bulletin, Volume 39, No. 1, September 1996. Pages 13-13.

Abstract: Reservoir-Scale Carbonate Sequence Stratigraphy, McKittrick Canyon, and 3-D Subsurface Examples

By

Scott W. Tinker
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 Previous HitstratigraphicNext Hit framework exerts a primary control on the accuracy of a 3-D reservoir Previous HitmodelNext Hit and that a sequence-Previous HitstratigraphicNext Hit interpretation results in the most accurate Previous HitstratigraphicNext Hit framework.

In order to test the hypothesis, an experiment had to be designed in which a "known" sequence-Previous HitstratigraphicNext Hit 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-Previous HitstratigraphicNext Hit 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-Previous HitstratigraphicNext Hit framework and one with a lithostratigraphic framework. Previous HitModelNext Hit results, including lithofacies distribution, volumetric calculations, and synthetic Previous HitseismicNext Hit 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-Previous HitstratigraphicNext Hit framework is the most difficult and creative part of the 3-D modeling process and involves integrating all available core, wireline log, Previous HitseismicNext Hit, and production data in order to arrive at a reasonable Previous HitstratigraphicNext Hit 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 Previous HitstratigraphicNext Hit framework. The second section will introduce the detailed sequence- Previous HitstratigraphicNext Hit 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 Previous HitstratigraphicNext Hit framework; 2) illustrate the differences in reservoir compartment distribution as a function of Previous HitstratigraphicNext Hit framework and well spacing; and 3) confirm the hypothesis that the Previous HitstratigraphicNext Hit framework exerts a primary control on the accuracy of a 3-D reservoir Previous HitmodelNext Hit. Finally, highlights from several 3- D reservoir models will be presented to illustrate the importance of a sequence-Previous HitstratigraphicNext Hit interpretation and the positive impact that an accurate 3-D Previous HitmodelTop has on reservoir management.

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