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Abstract

R. Sorkhabi and Y. Tsuji, 2005, Faults, fluid flow, and petroleum traps: AAPG Memoir 85, p. 59-78.

DOI:10.1306/1033716M853131

Copyright copy2005 by The American Association of Petroleum Geologists.

Fault-seal Analysis Applied to the Erawan Gas-condensate Field in the Gulf of Thailand

Tokio Kachi,1 Hideki Yamada,2 Kiyoshi Yasuhara,3 Masamichi Fujimoto,4 Shutaro Hasegawa,5 Shoji Iwanaga,6 Rasoul Sorkhabi7

1Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., Ltd. (MOECO), Tokyo, Japan
2Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., Ltd. (MOECO), Tokyo, Japan
3Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., Ltd. (MOECO), Tokyo, Japan
4Technology Research Center, Japan National Oil Corporation, Chiba, Japan; Present address: INPEX Co., Tokyo, Japan.
5Technology Research Center, Japan National Oil Corporation, Chiba, Japan; Present address: Idemitsu Oil amp Gas Co., Tokyo, Japan.
6Technology Research Center, Japan National Oil Corporation, Chiba, Japan; Present address: Geoscience Research Laboratory, Yamato, Kanagawa, Japan.
7Technology Research Center, Japan National Oil Corporation, Chiba, Japan; Present address: Energy amp Geoscience Institute, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This case study could not have been possible without the support rendered by Unocal Thailand, Inc. (the operator for the Erawan gas-condensate field); we thank the staff of Unocal Thailand who contributed to the preparation of seismic and log data necessary for this study. We also appreciate the permission given by Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd (MOECO), Unocal Thailand, Inc., and Japan National Oil Corporation (JNOC) (presently Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation) to publish this chapter. This study was carried out using the FAULTAPtrade software designed at the JNOC. We are grateful to Kazuo Nakayama, John Sneider, James Turner, and Yoshihiro Tsuji for reviewing this chapter and for their comments that improved the accuracy and clarity of the chapter; nevertheless, we alone are responsible for the content of the chapter.

ABSTRACT

The Erawan field in the Gulf of Thailand is characterized by a series of east- and west-dipping normal faults displacing the Miocene clastic reservoirs. The fault-seal capacity of these faults was assessed using sand-shale juxtaposition diagrams, shale smear parameters, and fault-seal failure probability (FSFP) (based on in-situ stress conditions). For this study, five east-dipping faults in the Erawan N Platform area were selected (faults E-16, E-17, E-18, E-20, and E-27). Several deviated wells have been drilled through the footwall blocks of these faults. Low values of the shale smear factor (SSF lt 6) and high values of the clay content ratio (CCR gt 30%) of four of the faults suggest that faults seal along their planes. In contrast to these four faults, fault E-27 appears to act as an across-fault conduit for some intervals and seal in others. Intervals without trapped hydrocarbons have higher SSF values, suggesting that the fault leaks locally. These five faults trap 15 gas pay zones. Eight of the pay zones have sand-shale juxtaposition across the faults, which may explain 8 of the 15 accumulations. Shale smear parameters can account for all 15 accumulations. Fault-seal failure probability was derived for one of these faults (E-16) by integrating the CCR values and the probability of fault slip tendency and fault dilation tendency under the current stress regime in the Erawan field. Low FSFP values indicate that the fault seals do not appear to have been breached given the in-situ stress field acting on the normal fault.

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