Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Geologic field number and size assessments of oil and gas plays

Conference · · Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States)
OSTI ID:6609291

Assessments of undiscovered oil and gas potentials for a group of untested but geologically related prospects can be made from an estimate of the possible ranges in number and size of potential fields, assuming the play exists, coupled with an evaluation of geologic risks that it might not exist. Field size distributions can be constructed from known field reserves in geologically similar plays, from assessment of representative prospects in the play, or from simulations of distributions of the play's prospect areas, reservoir parameter and potential hydrocarbon fill. The field size distributions are truncated at both ends, at a practical minimum and at the largest size reasonable expected in the play. The possible range of number of potential fields is estimated from counted and postulated numbers of untested prospects in conjunction with a success ratio, or from look-alike field densities. The chance that the play exists is the chance that there is at least 1 field of at least the minimum size assessed. The final assessment curves, developed by Monte Carlo simulation, portray exceedance probability vs. the range of possible recoverable hydrocarbon potential.

Research Organization:
Exxon Production Research Co., Houston, TX
OSTI ID:
6609291
Report Number(s):
CONF-8405216-
Journal Information:
Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States), Journal Name: Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) Vol. 68:4; ISSN AAPGB
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Geologic field number and size assessments of oil and gas plays
Journal Article · Sat Mar 31 23:00:00 EST 1984 · Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States) · OSTI ID:6572779

Geologic risking guide for prospects and plays
Journal Article · Tue Nov 30 23:00:00 EST 1993 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States) · OSTI ID:5665115

Geological assessment techniques
Conference · Tue Feb 28 23:00:00 EST 1989 · AAPG Bull.; (United States) · OSTI ID:5795069