Evidence of reservoir compartmentalization by calcite cement layers in deepwater sandstones, Bell Canyon Formation, Delaware Basin, Texas

Abstract

Abstract Sandstones of the Upper Permian Bell Canyon Formation were deposited by turbidity currents in a basin-floor setting. The sandstones were deposited in a channel-levee system that terminated in broad lobes; overbank splays filled topographically low inter-channel areas. Diagenesis and reservoir quality of the sandstones were examined in cores from East Ford field, which is undergoing a CO 2 flood. Porosity and permeability are controlled by calcite cement, mainly concentrated in layers ranging from 5 to 40 cm in thickness. In a new infill well, initial production was of a high gas volume that contained a high concentration of CO 2 from the interval beneath several low-permeability, calcite-cemented layers. The CO 2 was most likely from an injector well and was trapped below the calcite layers. Geophysical log correlations support the interpretation that some calcite layers are laterally continuous over a distance of at least 300 m, causing vertical compartmentalization in the reservoir.