About This Item
- Full TextFull Text(subscription required)
- Pay-Per-View PurchasePay-Per-View
Purchase Options Explain
Share This Item
The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database
AAPG Bulletin
Abstract
AAPG Bulletin, V.
DOI: 10.1306/11181514227
A test of analog-based tools for quantitative prediction of large-scale
fluvial
architecture
fluvial
architecture
Luca Colombera,1 Nigel P. Mountney,2 John A. Howell,3 Andreas Rittersbacher,4 Fabrizio Felletti,5 and William D. McCaffrey6
1
Fluvial
and Eolian Research Group, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT Leeds, United Kingdom; [email protected]
2
Fluvial
and Eolian Research Group, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT Leeds, United Kingdom; [email protected]
3School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Meston Building, AB24 3UE Aberdeen, United Kingdom; [email protected]
4Statoil ASA, Sandsliveien 90, 5254 Bergen, Norway; [email protected]
5Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra ‘Ardito Desio’, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Mangiagalli 34, 20133 Milan, Italy; [email protected]
6
Fluvial
and Eolian Research Group, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT Leeds, United Kingdom; [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Outcrop analogs are routinely used to constrain models of subsurface
fluvial
sedimentary architecture built
through
stochastic modeling or interwell sand-body correlations. Correlability models are analog-based quantitative templates for guiding the well-to-well correlation of sand bodies, whereas indicator variograms used as
input
to reservoir models can be parameterized from data collected from analogs, using existing empirical relationships. This study tests the value and limitations of adopting analog-informed correlability models and indicator variogram models and assesses the effect and significance of analog choice in subsurface workflows for characterizing
fluvial
reservoirs. A 3.2-km (2-mi)-long architectural panel based on a virtual outcrop from the Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation (Wasatch Plateau, Utah) has been used to test the methodologies. Vertical dummy wells have been constructed across the panel, and the intervening
fluvial
architecture has been predicted using correlability models and sequential indicator simulations. The correlability and indicator variogram models employed to predict the outcrop architecture have been compiled using information drawn from an architectural database. These models relate to (1) analogs that partially match with the Blackhawk Formation in terms of depositional setting and (2) empirical relationships relating statistics on depositional element geometries and spatial relations to net-to-gross ratio, based on data from multiple
fluvial
systems of a variety of forms. The forecasting methods are assessed by quantifying the mismatch between predicted architecture and outcrop observations in terms of the correlability of channel complexes and static connectivity of channel deposits. Results highlight the effectiveness of correlability models as a check for the geologic realism of correlation panels and the value of analog-informed indicator variograms as a valid alternative to variogram model parameterization
through
geostatistical analysis of well data. This work has application in the definition of best-practice use of analogs in subsurface workflows; it provides insight into the typical degree of realism of analog-based predictions of reservoir architecture, as well as the effect of analog choice, and draws attention to associated pitfalls.
Pay-Per-View Purchase Options
The article is available
through
a document delivery service. Explain these Purchase Options.
| Watermarked PDF Document: $16 | |
| Open PDF Document: $28 |
AAPG Member?
Please login with your Member username and password.
Members of AAPG receive access to the full AAPG Bulletin Archives as part of their membership. For more information, contact the AAPG Membership Department at [email protected].