Click to view this article in PDF
format.
Chapter from:
AAPG Memoir 71 : Reservoir Characterization-Recent Advances
Edited by Richard A. Schatzinger and John F. Jordan
Copyright 
1999 by The American Association of
Petroleum Geologists. All rights reserved.
Memoir 71, Chapter 5: Predicting Interwell Heterogeneity in Fluvial-Deltaic Reservoirs:
Effects of Progressive Architecture Variation Through a Depositional Cycle from Outcrop
and Subsurface Observations , by Paul R. Knox and Mark D. Barton , Pages 57 - 72
Chapter 5
Predicting Interwell Heterogeneity in
Fluvial-Deltaic Reservoirs: Effects of Progressive Architecture Variation Through a
Depositional Cycle from Outcrop and Subsurface Observations
Paul R. Knox
Bureau of Economic Geology
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas, U.S.A.
Mark D. Barton
Shell Development Company
Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
ABSTRACT
Early recognition of stratigraphic heterogeneity can lead to improved estimates of
hydrocarbon reserves and more efficient development strategies. Although good models based
on studies of modern and ancient fluvial-deltaic deposits exist for predicting interwell
heterogeneity, a single model applies only to genetically related deposits of a single
pulse of progradation and retreat, which describes only one, or a part of one, reservoir.
Recent studies document significant changes in depositional style in adjacent
stratigraphic intervals, and a model for predicting this variability is needed; therefore,
we have carried out studies of outcrop reservoir analogs and of reservoirs that suggest
that variability is predictable if assessed within the framework of depositional cycles
and that differences between adjacent high-frequency cycles can substantially impact
production behavior and reserve-growth potential.
