Revitalizing a mature oil play: Strategies for finding and producing unrecovered oil in Frio Fluvial-Deltaic Sandstone Reservoirs of South Texas

Abstract

The Frio Fluvial-Deltaic Sandstone Play of South Texas is one example of a mature play where reservoirs are being abandoned at high rates, potentially leaving behind significant unrecovered resources in untapped and incompletely drained reservoirs. Nearly 1 billion barrels of oil have been produced from Frio reservoirs since the 1940`s, yet more than 1.6 BSTB of unrecovered mobile oil is estimated to remain in the play. Frio reservoirs of the South Texas Gulf Coast are being studied to better characterize interwell stratigraphic heterogeneity in fluvial-deltaic depositional systems and determine controls on locations and volumes of unrecovered oil. Engineering data from fields throughout the play trend were evaluated to characterize variability exhibited by these heterogeneous reservoirs and were used as the basis for resource calculations to demonstrate a large additional oil potential remaining within the play. Study areas within two separate fields have been selected in which to apply advanced reservoir characterization techniques. Stratigraphic log correlations, reservoir mapping, core analyses, and evaluation of production data from each field study area have been used to characterize reservoir variability present within a single field. Differences in sandstone depositional styles and production behavior were assessed to identify zones with significant stratigraphic heterogeneity and a high potential for containing unproduced oil. Detailed studies of selected reservoir zones within these two fields are currently in progress.