On Integrated Interpretative Data Workflows for Analyzing Structural and Combinational Traps - Risk Minimizing Exploratory and Field Development Plans

Abstract

As petroleum reserves become increasingly difficult to add, the risks and costs of exploring and developing them increase. Often, intricacy is because of poor data integration, exploration efforts are far from matching logical and judicious drilling campaigns. Heterogeneous data at different scales and magnitudes make integration process more difficult and tedious; ultimately affect the well-prognosis designs. Many sedimentary basins have critical issues of ascertaining the life span of each productive field, because of poor understanding of structural entrapment, reservoir descriptions and their areal extents. Geological models deduced for drillable exploratory targets at times, do not entirely meet optimum well plans and targets. These issues may severely affect the cost-benefit equation, in spite of recovery costs from the discovery wells. An effort is made to understand multi-faceted datasets (multiple dimensions in different application domains) that undergo the data integration process, including design and successful implementation of integrated workflows. 3D/4D seismic data when integrated with drilled-well and production data can facilitate the producing company, a historical pre-discovery role in exploration to a post-discovery or field development phase, thereby making up some of these risks. Geological models deduced based on interactive quantitative integrated interpretation play significant roles in well-planning and optimizing the economics associated with every exploratory and development well. Integration of maps derived from different domains, such as, seismic, geology, drilled-well, reservoir and production-engineering dimensions, can reduce the ambiguity involved during interpretation of play-entrapment mechanism. Post-mortem analysis done for each and every drilled well may help in learning about subsequent future well-plans.