Carbonate reservoirs: Quantitative characterization of facies and permeability using outcrop analogs

Journal Article · Thu Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1990 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA)

OSTI ID:5857990

Kerans, C ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Texas, Austin (USA)

Increased interest in improved recovery efficiency from existing hydrocarbon reservoirs demonstrates a need for high-resolution geological/petro-physical/geostatistical models that accurately predict both external characteristics (dimensions, orientation relative to depositional trend, character of bounding facies) and internal characteristics (stratification style, grain type, pore type, and vertical and lateral variability in porosity, permeability, and saturation) of key reservoir facies. Such a development and/or scale perspective provides an impetus for understanding fundamental aspects of carbonate-platform architecture in finer detail as well as for improving their ability to quantify descriptive geology for input into fluid-flow models. Dolomitized ramp-carbonate reservoirs of the San Andres and Grayburg formations, Permian basin, west Texas and New Mexico, compose of the most productive yet most inefficient reservoir types in the basin, having an estimated unrecovered oil resource of 30.7 billion bbl. Detailed geological and petrophysical examination has identified ramp-crest mixed skeletal/oolitic/peloidal grainstones as key productive facies in these reservoirs, but nondiagnostic log response and highly variable diagenesis make predicting the three-dimensional geometry and internal petrophysical characteristics difficult. The substantial remaining resource coupled with the inherent geological and petrophysical heterogeneities in the play make it an ideal starting place for developing new high-resolution quantitative geologic models.

• OSTI ID: 5857990
• Journal Information: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA), Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (USA) Vol. 74:11; ISSN AABUD; ISSN 0149-1423
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
58 GEOSCIENCES
580000 -- Geosciences
CARBON
DEPOSITION
DIAGENESIS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCE DEVELOPMENT
EXPLORATION
FEDERAL REGION VI
FLUID FLOW
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC MODELS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GEOMETRY
MATHEMATICS
MINERAL RESOURCES
NEW MEXICO
NONMETALS
NORTH AMERICA
ORIGIN
PALEOZOIC ERA
PERMEABILITY
PERMIAN BASIN
PERMIAN PERIOD
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
POROSITY
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESOURCES
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
TEXAS
USA