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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
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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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