Abstract
The traditional 3D basin modeling workflow is made of the following steps: construction of present day basin architecture, reconstruction of the structural evolution through time, together with fluid flow simulation and heat transfers. In this case, the forward simulation is limited to basin architecture, mainly controlled by erosion, sedimentation and vertical compaction. The tectonic deformation is limited to vertical slip along faults. Fault properties are modeled as vertical shear zones along which rock permeability is adjusted to enhance fluid flow or prevent flow to escape.For basins having experienced a more complex tectonic history, this approach is over-simplified. It fails in understanding and representing fluid flow paths due to structural evolution of the basin. This impacts overpressure build-up, and petroleum resources location.Over the past years, a new 3D basin forward code has been developed in IFP Energies nouvelles that is based on a cell centered finite volume discretization which preserves mass on an unstructured grid and describes the various changes in geometry and topology of a basin through time. At the same time, 3D restoration tools based on geomechanical principles of strain minimization were made available that offer a structural scenario at a discrete number of deformation stages of the basin.In this paper, we present workflows integrating these different innovative tools on complex faulted basin architectures where complex means moderate lateral as well as vertical deformation coupled with dynamic fault property modeling.Two synthetic case studies inspired by real basins have been used to illustrate how to apply the workflow, where the difficulties in the workflows are, and what the added value is compared with previous basin modeling approaches.
Highlights
In view of the current context of oil and gas exploration, the discovery of new prospects in underexplored areas or residual reserves in mature areas will depend on our ability to work on deeper and structurally more complex targets such as deep offshore or deeply-buried reservoirs. All these new opportunities stretch the capabilities of currently available 3D basin exploration software, which can not provide accurate structural reconstruction of the basin coupled with the controlling physical processes that lead to the generation and migration of hydrocarbons
Since 2000, 2D software tools like Thrustpack [1], Ceres2D [2] or TecLink2D [3, 4] exist that consider evolving geometry through geological time coupled with reconstruction of timing of hydrocarbon generation and expulsion
Deformation modes are namely flexural slip and simple shear [1, 5,6,7]. 3D software like Temis3D [8] or Petromod3D [7] simulating fluid flow coupled with evolutionary geometry where paleogeometries are automatically computed by a method called “backstripping” or vertical decompaction [9]
Summary
In view of the current context of oil and gas exploration, the discovery of new prospects in underexplored areas or residual reserves in mature areas will depend on our ability to work on deeper and structurally more complex targets such as deep offshore or deeply-buried reservoirs. 3D software like Temis3D [8] or Petromod3D [7] simulating fluid flow coupled with evolutionary geometry where paleogeometries are automatically computed by a method called “backstripping” or vertical decompaction [9] These methods give a good approximation of the paleogeometries in a basin with limited amounts of faulting, small lateral throws and moderate tectonics. Since 2006, IFPEN has been developing a new basin simulator designed to handle moderately to highly deformed geometries and to better account for the impact of faults on fluid flow through time [14,15,16,17,18]. In the new basin simulator, efforts have been made to develop a solution that takes better into account the physical characteristics for the fault representation
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