Tilting oil-water contact in the chalk of Tyra Field as interpreted from capillary pressure data

Abstract

Abstract The Tyra Field in the central North Sea is located in Palaeogene and Upper Cretaceous chalk. It contains a natural gas zone underlain by an oil leg. Based on analysis of logs and core data from ten wells drilled prior to the field being put into production, normalized water saturation depth-trends from logs were compared with normalized water saturation depth-trends predicted from capillary pressure core data. The ten wells lie close to a SW–NE cross section of the field. For the gas–oil contact, a free contact measured in one well corresponds to a practically horizontal contact interpreted from logging data in the remaining wells. A westerly dipping oil–water contact was found from logging data. Comparison of the depth-wise trends in normalized water saturation among the different wells indicates a regional pattern: in the western side of the field, the trends correspond to a situation of imbibition, where the free water level overlies an interval of residual oil, whereas in the eastern part of the field, the depth-wise trends in normalized water saturation correspond to a situation of drainage. The free water level apparently dips to the east due either to hydrodynamic action or to pressure inequilibrium in the aquifer following tectonic tilting.