The past six years （2008-2014） was a prosperous time for exploration and production in the dGOM （deepwater Gulf of Mexico）. Recent exploration and production activities can be divided into three major categories：...The past six years （2008-2014） was a prosperous time for exploration and production in the dGOM （deepwater Gulf of Mexico）. Recent exploration and production activities can be divided into three major categories： drilling new wildcat wells, appraising and developing newly discovered fields and enhanced oil recovery of mature fields. Seismic imaging, complex geology, high pressure drilling, greater depth, and higher temperature are key challenges for the exploration and production of dGOM reservoirs. Complex geology includes salt-related structures and traps, reservoir compartmentalization, and the sequence stratigraphy of turbidite reservoirs. Turbidite sequence stratigraphy helps the asset team to fred the best target intervals. Sheet and channelized sandstones with good downdip aquifer support are preferred reservoir conditions. All the drilling, development and production challenges are related to high pressure, greater depth, higher temperature and lack of existing field analogs. Various IOR （improved oil recovery） methods are studied and applied in the development stage of the Wilcox fields, which have an average primary recovery factor of 10%-15%. With ideal tabular reservoir geometry and IOR methods, recovery factor of the Wilcox reservoirs can reach up to 42% of OOIP （origional oil in place） through the field life cycle.展开更多
文摘The past six years （2008-2014） was a prosperous time for exploration and production in the dGOM （deepwater Gulf of Mexico）. Recent exploration and production activities can be divided into three major categories： drilling new wildcat wells, appraising and developing newly discovered fields and enhanced oil recovery of mature fields. Seismic imaging, complex geology, high pressure drilling, greater depth, and higher temperature are key challenges for the exploration and production of dGOM reservoirs. Complex geology includes salt-related structures and traps, reservoir compartmentalization, and the sequence stratigraphy of turbidite reservoirs. Turbidite sequence stratigraphy helps the asset team to fred the best target intervals. Sheet and channelized sandstones with good downdip aquifer support are preferred reservoir conditions. All the drilling, development and production challenges are related to high pressure, greater depth, higher temperature and lack of existing field analogs. Various IOR （improved oil recovery） methods are studied and applied in the development stage of the Wilcox fields, which have an average primary recovery factor of 10%-15%. With ideal tabular reservoir geometry and IOR methods, recovery factor of the Wilcox reservoirs can reach up to 42% of OOIP （origional oil in place） through the field life cycle.
