DOE projects to study reservoir architecture

The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy will help fund nine research projects that will add to the understanding of the fundamental architecture of oil reservoirs.

DOE said, "For much of the oil industry's history, limitations of technology made such detailed geologic examinations difficult, if not impossible. Now, advances in computer and seismic imaging technology are giving geoscientists new tools to examine oil reservoirs in much greater detail.

The nine research projects will develop techniques to model reservoir rock fractures, improve statistical methods to model the types and variations of rocks in oil reservoirs, find more accurate techniques for interpreting seismic data, and improve studies of rock properties and the continuity of oil-bearing rock layers in a reservoir.

Each of the projects will last about 3 years. They will cost $9 million, of which research institutions will provide $2.6 million (29%) and DOE will fund $6.4 million. The National Petroleum Technology Office in Tulsa will manage the projects for DOE.

The projects

The projects are as follows:

The University of Alaska Geophysical Institute, Fairbanks, will use subsurface data from cores and surface measurements to develop models that can predict effects of structural folding on the distribution of rock characteristics, such as fracture systems that control fluid flow in the reservoir and the location of folds that can trap oil.
West Virginia University Research Corp., Morgantown, will combine statistical, mapping, and rock measurement techniques with standard subsurface geologic analyses to develop information on reservoir rock characteristics and reservoir structure in a significant Appalachian oil-producing formation.
The University of Texas's Bureau of Economic Geology at Austin will use 3D modeling to predict reservoir rock properties, fluid flow paths, and fracture systems from measured surface rock characteristics. The data will be compared with production data.
Michigan Technological University, Houghton, will model rock properties found in cores and well logs to determine how they control the appearance of seismic patterns used by geoscientists to identify rock properties. Models will be developed that will enhance the ability to predict reservoir characteristics from seismic data.
A separate Michigan Tech project will combine existing reservoir information with advanced software visualization techniques to model fracture systems that control reservoir fluid flow. The data will permit visualization and interpretation of reservoir conditions in the Dundee formation throughout the Michigan basin.
Clemson University, Clemson, S.C., will develop models showing the distribution of rock properties measured in surface exposures to predict variations and discontinuities in oil-bearing rock and develop models of fluid flow in the heavy oil-impregnated sandstones of West Coalinga field in California.
BDM Petroleum Technologies, Bartlesville, Okla., will use a large reservoir database to analyze the continuity of sedimentary rock layers and develop geological models to identify improved recovery methods in Alabama's Citronelle field.
Golder Associates, Redmond, Wash., will integrate oil field data into its fracture modeling program to improve knowledge of reservoir rock characteristics and increase recovery efficiency in four reservoirs in Texas, Michigan, and Wyoming.
Utah Geological Survey, Salt Lake City, will relate regional data to statistics and models to increase understanding of rock characteristics in Utah's southwestern Uinta basin area surrounding DOE's Lomax/Inland Resources reservoir study.