Intelligent architecture modeling for multilevel fluvial reservoirs based on architecture interface and elements

At present,the architecture modeling method of fluvial reservoirs are still developing.Traditional methods usually use grids to characterize architecture interbeds within the reservoir.Due to the thin thickness of this type of the interlayers,the number of the model grids must be greatly expanded.The number of grids in the tens of millions often makes an expensive computation;however,upscaling the model will generate a misleading model.The above confusion is the major reason that restricts the largescale industrialization of fluvial reservoir architecture models in oilfield development and production.Therefore,this paper explores an intelligent architecture modeling method for multilevel fluvial reservoirs based on architecture interface and element.Based on the superpositional relationship of different architectural elements within the fluvial reservoir,this method uses a combination of multilevel interface constraints and non-uniform grid techniques to build a high-resolution 3D geological model for reservoir architecture.Through the grid upscaling technology of heterogeneous architecture elements,different upscaling densities are given to the lateral-accretion bedding and lateral-accretion bodies to simplify the model gridding.This new method greatly reduces the number of model grids while ensuring the accuracy of lateral-accretion bedding models,laying a foundation for large-scale numerical simulation of the subsequent industrialization of the architecture model.This method has been validated in A layer of X oilfield with meandering fluvial channel sands as reservoirs and B layer of Y oilfield with braided river sands as reservoirs.The simulation results show that it has a higher accuracy of production history matching and remaining oil distribution forecast of the targeted sand body.The numerical simulation results show that in the actual development process of oilfield,the injected water will not displace oil in a uniform diffusive manner as traditionally assumed,but in a more complex pattern with oil in upper part of sand body being left behind as residual oil due to the influences of different levels of architecture interfaces.This investigation is important to guiding reservoir evaluation,remaining oil analysis,profile control and potential tapping and well pattern adjustment.

Deep-water depositional architecture and sedimentary evolution in the Rakhine Basin,northeast Bay of Bengal

Since the consecutive discovery of several gas fields from 2004 to present,the Rakhine Basin has been an active area for petroleum exploration in the Bay of Bengal.High-resolution 3D seismic data and well data from blocks AD1,AD6 and AD8 offshore northwest Myanmar are used to study the Miocene–Pleistocene depositional architecture and sedimentary evolution in the Rakhine Basin.Analysis of seismic facies and seismic attributes indicates that deep-water architectural elements include submarine canyons,confined slope channel complex systems,aggradational channel–levee complexes,isolated channels,frontal splays and mass-transport complexes,which have variable characters(shape,dimension,sedimentary architecture)within predominantly background deep-water slope-basin floor facies.Most of the sediments are interpreted to be sourced from the Ganges–Brahmaputra fluvio-deltaic system to the north with only minor lateral input from the IndoMyanmar Ranges to the east.Investigation of the depositional evolution and architectural elements transformation during the filling history of the Rakhine Basin suggests the Rakhine Basin experienced rapid progradation during the Oligocene–Middle/Upper Miocene,gradual retrogradation during the Middle/Upper Miocene–Early Pliocene and gradual progradation during the Early Pliocene–Pleistocene.Published exploration results indicate that the main reservoirs of the discoveries in blocks A1 and A3 are Pliocene frontal splays and channel–levee fills,dominated by fine and very fine-grained sandstones,in structural and structural–stratigraphic traps.Analytic results from seismic characters and several exploration wells indicate that channel complexes and associated overbanks and frontal splays with fine-grained sandstones and siltstones trapped by the four-way closures are primary reservoir targets.

The Aghajari (Upper Fars) Formation in the Folded Zagros Zone, Iran: Insights to Identify Facies, Architectural Elements, Fluvial Systems, Petrography and Provenance

The Aghajari Formation, called also the Upper Fars, develops throughout the Folded Zagros Zone and its thickness in the type section in southwest of Iran is 2966 meters. To analyze the sedimentary basin of this Formation, lithofacies, architectural elements and petrofacies of the related deposits in a section in southeast of Sarvestan in Fars Province of Iran with a thickness of 2221.45 meters were examined. Microscopically studying thin sections, the petrography and the occurrence of the deposits were determined. In this section, 16 lithofacies, 10 architectural elements and 2 sandstone petrofacies were identified. The lithofacies were divided into two major and minor groups, in which the major lithofacies consist of coarse-grained （Gh, Gp, Gt and Gm）, medium-grained （Sh, Sp, St, Sl, Sm, Sr and Ss and fine-grained ones （Fm, Fl and Fsm）, and the minor lithofacies were evaporative and mixed silisiclastic-carbonate. The identified architectural elements are CH, SB, GB, LA, DA, CR, CS, LV, LS, CH （FF） and FF. By combining evidences from facies analysis and architectural elements together, the Aghajari Formation was divided into three parts in which the related sedimentation environments, from top to bottom, are gravel, gravel-sand and fine-grained meandering river respectively. There have also been playas and shoreface in the lower part. Based on petrography, the sandstones of this formation were classified into two groups： litharenite and sublitharenite. The origin of these deposits （sandstones） was appointed to the recycled orogeny and the source of quartz is low and medium to high metamorphic rank. Using the field evidences, the paleocurrent direction was achieved indicating the direction of the paleocurrent from northwest to southeast at the time of deposition. It is hoped that these data can be used in the interpretation of the basin and reconstruction of the paleogeography in the local and regional scales.

3D modeling of deepwater turbidite lobes:a review of the research status and progress

Deepwater turbidite lobe reservoirs have massive hydrocarbon potential and represent one of the most promising exploration targets for hydrocarbon industry.Key elements of turbidite lobes internal heterogeneity include the architectural hierarchy and complex amalgamations at each hierarchical level leading to the complex distribution of shale drapes.Due to limitation of data,to build models realistically honoring the reservoir architecture provides an effective way to reduce risk and improve hydrocarbon recovery.A variety of modeling techniques on turbidite lobes exist and can be broadly grouped into pixel-based,process-based,process-oriented,surface-based,object-based and a hybrid approach of two or more of these methods.The rationale and working process of methods is reviewed,along with their pros and cons.In terms of geological realism,object-based models can capture the most realistic architectures,including the multiple hierarchy and the amalgamations at different hierarchical levels.In terms of data conditioning,pixel-based and multiple-point statistics methods could honor the input data to the best degree.In practical,dif?ferent methods should be adopted depending on the goal of the project.Such a review could improve the understanding of existing modeling methods on turbidite lobes and could benefit the hydrocarbon exploration activities of such reservoirs in offshore China.

Interaction between Downslope and Alongslope Processes on the Margins of Daihai Lake,North China:Implication for Deltaic Sedimentation Models of Lacustrine Rift Basin

Daihai Lake, a modern lacustrine rift basin, located in Inner Mongolia, North China, serves as an important modern analog for understanding deltaic depositional processes in an active rift setting. Two of the deltas （Yuanzigou delta and Bulianghe delta） on the margins of Daihai Lake were surveyed to compare and contrast stacking patterns using aerial photographs, field trenching and sediment sampling. Shallow cores and trench data collected from the margins of Daihai Lake indicate that a variety of depositional processes have been active since Daihai Lake formed. Two 3-D sedimentation models which employ chronostratigraphic correlation technique were generated. The chronostratigraphic sedimentation models predict and represent the architectures and sand-body continuity of sediments. Stratigraphical coincidence of the broad sheeted drifts and channel erosion suggests a coupling between downslope and alongslope processes. Distributary mouth bars are prevalent in the front of deltas on steeper slopes due to the dominance of down-slope flows. On the contrary, the along-slope currents favor the development of distal bar deposits with sheeted sandbodies on gentle depositional slopes. This study provides an insight into the architecture of complex sedimentary facies associated with highlighting key differences between downslope flows and alongslope currents. The distribution of sand within these deltas is of particular interests, with applications in understanding the architecture of hydrocarbon reservoirs formed in lacustrine rift basin.

Evolution of Neoproterozoic siliciclastic Kerur Formation in the light of sequence stratigraphic framework: Badami Basin, Karnataka, India

Field-based sedimentology,state of the art facies analysis and sequence stratigraphic framework analysis have revealed the controls of local and global tectonics,basin-marginal slope,climate and changes in relative sea level (RSL) over the sedimentation pattern and evolution of a Neoproterozoic Kerur Formation within the Badami Group of Kaladgi Supergroup in India.The entire succession shows three major cycles of deposition.Facies study and fluvial architectural elemental analysis suggest considerable variations in depositional environments as well as palaeogeography.A transition from basin-margin alluvial cone deposits to braided system,initially with fluctuating ephemeral flows then to a steadier semi-perennial nature,is discernible within the 1^(st) cycle,in response to decreasing depositional slope with rising water table.The initial alluvial cone and braided ephemeral streams of high slope areas is designated as a product of low accommodation systems tract (LAST),while the semi-perennial system with steadier flows,representing the axial river of the initial rift valley,appears to be a product of high-accommodation systems tract (HAST).The 2^(nd) cycle begins with a perennial and steady braided river system and grades upward to a shallow marine succession,comprising wave-dominated,well-sorted sandstone,with a granular transgressive lag at the base.Thus,the bottommost fluvial interval of the 2^(nd) cycle constitutes the lowstand systems tract (LST).The marine succession represents deposits of outer shelf offshore to foreshore-beach settings and is composed of an initially deepening and fining upward transgressive systems tract (TST),followed by a coarsening and shallowing upward highstand systems tract (HST) with a maximum marine flooding surface (MFS) in between,demarcated by a shale-rich condensed zone.The 3^(rd) cycle,with its prograding alluvial fan and aggrading braided fluvial deposits and restricted occurrence,represents only the low accommodation systems tract(LAST) with a subaerial unconformity at the base.The basin evidently initiated in the western sector,followed by its eastward expansion during the first major rejuvenation of the basin margin faults,after the deposition of the 1^(st) cycle.After the basin-wide deposition of the 2^(nd) cycle,restricted development of the 3^(rd) cycle took place in the western sector only,following the second major rejuvenation of the fault system.The proposed sedimentological model,supported by established geochronological constraints,suggests that the sedimentation in the 1^(st) cycle begins with scree cones,alluvial fans and braided ephemeral channel networks,originated from faulted basin margins within a riftogenic setting possibly related to the global-scale extensional tectonics of Rodinia breakup.After the expansion of the basin,the marine inundation has been correlated to the transgression that possibly took place during the post-rift maturation stages.