Abstract

With a highly fluctuating oil market, the Permian Basin is a shining bright spot in the quest to take advantage of these swings. Operators with the ability to move quickly have shown production increases during advantageous times. To the casual observer, the Permian Basin appears to be a very mature basin with a wealth of data but little opportunity. To those actively working here, there is quite a different story. Although the giant oil fields have already been discovered and the easy targets have been drilled, significant reserves are still lurking amongst and below the forest of nearly half a million wellbores. These subtle caches of hydrocarbons can be found in bypassed zones, hiding in attics, below presumed oil water contacts, or simply in unrecognized compartments of existing reservoirs.

The data is voluminous and yet fraught with gaps and inaccuracies (noise). Almost 80% of the time involved on starting a project from scratch is attributed to the acquisition and verification of data. Sifting through this volume of data is no longer the Herculean task it once was. The computer technology is catching up with the methodologies and data types more familiar to geologists, providing the ability to manipulate them with ease. The tools are now available to capture work from previous projects and build on those foundations. New interpretations are captured through interaction with the software, eliminating the possibility of typographical errors during further interpretations. When this data collection time can be reduced, more time becomes available for the identification of the prospect.

The opportunities still exist, buried in the piles of scout ticket reports, log libraries, and production records. The geologic database and the right software provide a means of organizing and presenting the information in a meaningful manner. Geologic software is an expense much like paper products or word processing software. The database is an investment of time and money and is the foundation of interpretations which is the geologist’s product. The value of the database is not predicated on the volume of data it contains, but on the accuracy and completeness of strategic data, to make the most of the investment. New play types and technologic advances have stimulated drilling in the past and will continue to do so, but often the quick return comes from small increases for a greater number of wells.