Fairway Mapping Research Articles

Integrated Sequence Stratigraphic and Seismic Facies Analysis for Hydrocarbon Prospectivity of the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand

This study analyses the hydrocarbon potential and basin characteristics of the Taranaki Basin in New Zealand, the country's primary petroleum-producing region. The research, which uses a robust methodology involving 2D seismic data, well logs, and other geological information, examines the basin's stratigraphy, structural features, and petroleum systems. Key findings include the identification of two genetic sequences with associated system tracts, multiple reservoir and source rock units, and both structural and stratigraphic trapping mechanisms. Seismic facies analysis revealed eight distinct facies types which characterize the depositional environments. Play fairway mapping identified sweet spots where all petroleum system elements overlap. Risk assessment highlighted factors like gas chimneys and fault-compromised seals. The study concludes by presenting the geologic chance of success for three identified plays and one prospect in different stratigraphic intervals. This comprehensive analysis provides new insights into the under-explored portions of the Taranaki Basin and its hydrocarbon potential. By enhancing the understanding of the basin's stratigraphic architecture and depositional history, this study aims to improve reservoir distribution and quality predictability. Moreover, integrating seismic facies analysis with sequence stratigraphy offers a robust tool for delineating potential hydrocarbon-bearing zones, thereby reducing exploration risk and aiding the efficient reassessment of existing prospective zones and future exploration efforts.

Tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Sohar Basin, exploration concepts and emerging plays offshore on the UAE's east coast

The Sohar Basin, located offshore the East Coast of the Arabian Peninsula, is an area that has seldom been the focus of international oil companies. While all commercial discoveries in the UAE and Oman have been made to the west and south of the Oman Mountains, the Sohar Basin is underexplored and remains prospective. This lack of activity is primarily because the Thamama reservoir, which has yielded huge success to the west of the Oman Mountains is likely not present within the Sohar Basin. However, potential traps, reservoirs, and source rocks are present within the Tertiary succession. The Sohar Basin formed in the late Cretaceous after the obduction of the Semail Ophiolite onto the Arabian Plate. Following a period of tectonic quiescence, which lasted until the Early Eocene, the gravitational collapse occurred along the eastern edge of the present-day Oman Mountains.Interpretation of both 2D and 3D seismic reveals that the subsurface is comprised of three tectonostratigraphic units, defined as pre-, syn-, and post-tectonic packages. North-South trending thrust faults generate distinct mini-basins within the pre- and syn-tectonic sequences. The post-tectonic sequence is defined by the development of prograding systems in a tectonically quiescent margin formed in the Lower Miocene and which persists to the present day. Deep-water depositional systems dominate the undrilled far-east and south of the basin where the presence of submarine canyon systems and associated basin floor fans is supported by 3D seismic data. In recent times, the Sohar Basin has been subject to extensional faulting likely driven by sediment load caused by a prograding delta system.The results of this work reveal that multiple untested play types exist within the Sohar Basin, which are comprised of both structural and stratigraphic elements. This paper integrates both a structural and sequence stratigraphic interpretation to provide insights into the tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Sohar Basin. Consequently, the fundamentals of play fairway mapping have been employed to unlock the hydrocarbon prospectivity offshore the UAE's East Coast.

One North Sea fairway analysis: revealing opportunities through data integration across scales

Abstract While the North Sea has many well-established prolific plays, the downwards trend of annual discovered resources has cast doubt on the continued ability of the stratigraphy to provide world-class future discoveries. However, despite this downwards trend, significant discoveries can still be made, such as Johan Sverdrup (Norwegian North Sea in 2010). Furthermore, new sub-plays within this petroleum system and new unproven plays with alternative source rocks are still being tested, although often with associated higher perceived pre-drill subsurface risk (Pg) and/or lower volume potential. There is room for new optimism, however, as new approaches and technologies are deployed, which could lead to future success. The analysis of regionally extensive integrated datasets allows for the interpretation of ‘One North Sea’ fairway maps that honour detailed observations from the prospect scale through to the play scale and beyond. By integrating source-rock maturity, hydrocarbon expulsion and migration, well shows, seismically defined gas chimneys, and direct hydrocarbon indications onto regional fairway maps, hydrocarbons can be traced from the source kitchens to the traps. By utilizing a zoom-in/zoom-out methodology, models can be developed, tested and applied across the basin, allowing new ideas to emerge, de-risk established prospects and reveal under-appreciated hydrocarbon volumetric upsides.

East coast gas: resource potential at different gas price scenarios (Part 1: quantification of unconventional gas resource potential)

A qualitative ranking of the remaining gas potential of Australian east coast basins was undertaken using a spatial analysis methodology of play fairway sweet-spot mapping. Play components considered important for the presence and recovery of unconventional gas were mapped across the plays of interest in Australian east coast basins. Modelled horizontal well type curves and development plans from North American analogues for unconventional gas production were used to quantify the sweet-spot mapping using a methodology we developed called common recovery segment mapping. A range of potential resource numbers were calculated for each play, leading to a quantification of the potential resource across the entire area of interest. Part 2 of this paper will show how these undeveloped unconventional gas resources may ultimately contribute to the east coast Australia energy mix.

Evaluation of sealing potential near gas chimneys–the Gippsland Basin, Australia

Gas chimneys are geological features that are associated with seal bypass systems. Knowledge of the capacity of the seal is important for the evaluation of the petroleum systems and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) studies. The seal is breached when the capillary pressure threshold is exceeded by the underlying buoyancy pressure. The chaotic seismic character that is generally associated with the gas chimneys has been studied previously to evaluate the origin and geometry of the chimneys. Seismic attributes have also been used to determine the character of the gas chimneys and the potential association of hydrocarbon fields. However, it is important to evaluate the sealing potential of the cap rock in the vicinity of the gas chimney. This paper demonstrates that the chimney can be used as a calibration point and, with the use of seismic attributes, variations of sealing capacity can be evaluated. Out of many existing seismic attributes, understanding the shale structure is crucial to narrow the search criteria for the right class of attributes. Using the most useful stream of seismic attributes, the average sealing potential of the Lakes Entrance Formation is estimated. The sealing capacity map across the field is then shown to help evaluate the prospectivity of the area of study and may upgrade subsequent play fairway maps.

A practical petrophysical model for a source rock play: The Mancos Shale

Recently, the focus in source rock exploration has moved from gas-rich to liquid-rich plays and warrants revisiting “bypassed” hydrocarbon charged source rocks, which were deemed uneconomic when first drilled. In North America’s oil fields, there are thousands of wells with different vintages of nuclear and electrical logs, yet these wells generally lack any advanced logs beyond the traditional triple combo. We have developed a workflow that uses a considerable amount of laboratory measurements made on crushed rock to upscale a petrophysical model based on a triple combo logging suite only. The model divides the field (laterally) in oil window and gas window fairways and (vertically) in petrophysical units. The remaining hydrocarbon generation potential is based on geochemical measurements, such as thermal maturity and total organic carbon content (TOC), from core and cuttings in the area. The petrophysical units reflect major geologic intervals with similar porosity and clay content. The workflow was sequentially built by correlating logs with core measurements, using TOC and maturity for organic matter, X-ray diffraction for mineralogy and grain density, porosity, and water saturation from fluids extraction, for volumetrics. The model is applied to the Mancos Shale (New Mexico, USA), a Cretaceous-age source rock, which includes the Niobrara Formation. The Mancos Shale has been penetrated in various fields while developing conventional sandstone reservoirs. The model is validated with measurements on a core recently acquired in the anticipated high-hydrocarbon-yield window. Petrophysical properties predicted from logs agree well with core measurements in blind tests, demonstrating the robustness of the model despite being based on a basic suite of logs and a simple deterministic approach. This model is now routinely used by the asset team as an automated workflow to generate fairway maps, locate sweet spots, and for landing lateral wells.

Petroleum assessment of Berkine–Ghadames Basin, southern Tunisia

Hydrocarbon exploration in the Berkine–Ghadames Basin in southern Tunisia has generally followed global economic trends. In recent years, improvements in seismic data acquisition combined with experience gained in log interpretation in low-resistivity reservoirs have resulted in oil and gas discoveries in the Upper Silurian Acacus Formation, enriching the hydrocarbon potential of the Berkine–Ghadames Basin in southern Tunisia. Presently, the Tunisian daily oil production is approximately 43,000 bbl, about half of which comes from the fields located in southern Tunisia and is produced from the Acacus Formation. The Berkine–Ghadames Basin is an intracratonic basin formed during the Pan-African Orogeny. It covers an area of approximately 350,000 km2 (135,135 mi2) and extends into Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia. The sedimentary section within the basin ranges from Cambrian to present and is approximately 7000 m (23,000 ft) thick in the depocenter. The basin has experienced several tectonic events, which have modified its architecture and affected the petroleum systems and hydrocarbon pathways. In this study, the main elements of the petroleum geology systems are described. With the geochemical modeling results, the petroleum potential, hydrocarbon generation, expulsion time, and quantity of hydrocarbon are assessed. The main petroleum systems are also defined. They are represented by the Silurian Tannezuft hot shale source rock with Ordovician Djeffara and Silurian Acacus reservoirs, by Silurian Tannezuft hot shale with Kirchaou reservoirs, and by the Devonian Aouinette Ouinine Formation Member III source rock with Kirchaou reservoirs. The hydrocarbon traps in the area are mainly structural types. The study describes and emphasizes the hydrocarbon migration pathway mechanism from source rocks to traps. To predict and derisk future drilling locations, fairway maps are generated for the three plays: Ordovician, Silurian, and Triassic. Although the paper focuses on southern Tunisia, an attempt is made to introduce Libyan and Algerian knowledge to evaluate the basin in a regional context.

A systematic approach to unconventional play analysis: the oil and gas potential of the Kockatea Shale and Carynginia Formation, North Perth Basin, Western Australia

Key formations throughout the North Perth Basin have been mapped from 3D and 2D seismic data to define depth grid inputs to a 3D basin model calibrated with temperature and maturity data from 45 wells, plus an additional 27 pseudo well models. The Permian Carynginia Formation and Early Triassic Hovea Member of the Kockatea Shale have been defined in this model as unconventional shale reservoir targets. Basin-wide pyrolysis data have been used to construct kinetics curves for both the Carynginia Formation and Kockatea Shale, which define Type D/E and mixed B, and D/E kerogen types, respectively. When combined with thermal history inputs, these source rocks expel and retain significant volumes of hydrocarbons, of which the free hydrocarbons in the retained components reach 22 BCF/km2 for the Carynginia Formation gas and 8 MMBBLS/km2 and 21 BCF/km2 for the Hovea Member liquids and gas, respectively. The defined kinetics relationships allow the estimation of kerogen-specific oil and gas windows, which have been applied across the study area to map unconventional play fairways for both formations, and to calculate the initial total organic carbon (TOC) and hydrogen index (HI) for each unit prior to significant maturation. This study employs a mass balance approach through basin modelling as a means of estimating likely retained hydrocarbon volumes in key unconventional reservoirs in the basin. Sonic and density data from 28 wells in the basin have been used to calculate theoretical porosity to determine likely areas of overpressure. When combined with observed connection gas peaks and modelled maturity, there is a reasonable correlation suggesting that the basin exhibits modest overpressure of 2–6 MPa associated with the main gas window at 1.2 Ro% and this observation is applied to the play fairway mapping process. Play fairways are further constrained through geomechanical and stress considerations from mechanical earth models (MEMs) built from log and image data for wells in the basin. These data define an overall strike-slip stress regime with SHmax consistently oriented east to west with the exception of local perturbations. Dynamic rock strength calculated from the same MEM process shows target zones in the Kockatea Shale and Carynginia Formation ranging from ~60–130 MPa unconfined compressive strength (UCS), calibrated against available static data. The net thickness of rock with a UCS >75 MPa is mapped and overlain on retained in place hydrocarbon maps to restrict the area of likely economically extractable resource. While unconventional play cut-offs in the Perth Basin are notably lower than those commonly used in shale gas plays in the US, successful stimulation of Perth Basin rocks has been demonstrated by substantial flows from wells such as Arrowsmith–2. This study outlines a new workflow for mapping unconventional resources and suggests that Australian rocks are unique in both depositional environment and mechanical properties such that unconventional assessment using US play cut-offs may be misleading.

Seismic geomorphology and sequence stratigraphy as tools for the prediction of reservoir facies distribution: an example from the Paleocene and earliest Eocene of the South Buchan Graben, Outer Moray Firth Basin, UKCS

Abstract A seismic stratigraphic analysis constrained by well and wireline log data has been undertaken on the Paleocene and earliest Eocene succession of the South Buchan Graben (Quadrants 20 and 21), Outer Moray Firth Basin (OMFB). Two principal sequences have been described relating to two regressive/transgressive second-order cycles of relative sea-level change. The Maureen, Andrew, Glamis Tuff and Balmoral sandstone members are expressed as a stacked set of lowstand basin floor fans separated by mudstone intervals representing four cycles of third-order relative sea-level change. The Sele and Balder formations contain both basinal and shelfal packages as an expression of two cycles of third-order relative sea-level change. The Forties Sandstone Member is deposited within highly mounded, levee-confined channels downlapped by a prograding slope succession with well-defined clinoforms and deltaic topsets attributed to the Dornoch and Beauly formations. The individual parasequences of the prograding wedge are related to higher-order eustatic fluctuations with incision and slope fans, attributed to the Cromarty Sandstone Member, deposited during periods of relative sea-level lowstand. It is demonstrated that through the integration of lithostratigraphic, seismic geomorphological and sequence stratigraphic analyses an understanding of depositional environments and the distribution of facies within them can be obtained. The identification of basinal and slope features with reservoir potential, along with an understanding of their chronostratigraphic relationship to sealing facies, play an important role in regional play fairway mapping and risk analysis in this area and beyond. Future prospectivity within mature basins, such as the OMFB, relies on subtle stratigraphic traps typical of lowstand systems tracts, where the main risk is associated with reservoir quality and containment.

Palaeogene remobilized sandstones of the Central North Sea – implications for hydrocarbon migration

There are abundant examples of remobilized sandstones in the Central and Northern North Sea. Study of an area around the Chestnut Field reveals two distinct Eocene sandstone formations, the Caran and Nauchlan, which both show evidence of remobilization. Following a review of the developed and undeveloped discoveries in this area, a trend emerged between these Palaeogene plays. Seemingly robust Palaeocene structures with tested reservoir, on a known hydrocarbon migration route with overlying seal rocks, were found to be dry where they were overlain by Caran injectites. Elsewhere this same geometry results in hydrocarbons being trapped, but only when overlying Caran injectites are absent. It seems that there is a mutually exclusive relationship between Palaeocene dip-closed structures and overlying injectites. We infer that Caran injectites permit migration into the overlying Nauchlan fairway where hydrocarbons migrate up dip and charge Eocene traps, such as the Chestnut Field. These observations are backed by extensive well data, seismic mapping, fairway mapping, and pressure data. This mutually exclusive relationship may be restricted to areas where an overlying Eocene fairway acts as a migration pathway. Elsewhere these remobilized sands are encased in mudrocks, resulting in hydrocarbons being trapped in Palaeocene structures and associated injectites.

Practical approaches to identifying sealed and open fractures

For one essential ingredient of permeable fracture networks (degree of fracture pore-space preservation in large fractures), I show how the characterization challenge presented by sparse fracture sampling can be overcome by measuring a surrogate, the abundance of rock-mass cement that precipitated after fractures ceased opening. Sampling limitations are overcome because the surrogate is readily measured in small rock samples, including sidewall cores and cuttings, permitting site-specific diagnosis of the capacity of fractures to transmit fluid over a wider range of sample depths than conventional methods allow. A diverse core database shows that this surrogate correctly predicts where large fractures are sealed. Information on timing of fracture opening relative to cement sequence can be obtained in two ways. First, evidence of fracture-movement history and cement sequences in sparse large fractures can be extrapolated to areas having only cement data. Alternately, evidence of fracture timing can be acquired from sealed, micrometer-scale fractures. Distribution of porosity-reducing cement is commonly heterogeneous (from bed to bed and location to location) in siliciclastic and carbonate rocks. However, because patterns of sealed or open fractures cannot be delineated using fracture observations alone, surrogates have practical value for production fairway mapping and other applications in which identifying open fractures is essential. This study highlights the vital interplay among structural and diagenetic processes for fracture-porosity preservation or destruction.