Sedimentology & Stratigraphy:

Sedimentology & Stratigraphy: • 3D modelling/reconstruction of depositional systems • Accommodation space, subsidence rate, sea- level and sediment transport • Immersive reservoir visualisation • e.g. Hive, Cave, Visionarium... • Fundamentals • Database of good stratigraphic/biostratigraphic framework • Sedimentology on core/logs

Sedimentology & Stratigraphy:Present status • 3D modelling/reconstruction of depositional systems • Accommodation space, subsidence rate, sea- level and sediment transport • Immersive reservoir visualisation • e.g. Hive, Cave, Visionarium... • Fundamentals • Database of good stratigraphic/biostratigraphic framework • Sedimentology on core/logs

Sedimentology & Stratigraphy:Technology Gaps • Møre and Vøring basins • ’Immature’ understanding of reservoir and source rock distribution (not many wells) • Description of reservoir heterogeneities & true 3D models • Geologically relevant upscaling to test the effects of merging heterogeneities at different scales into a geological meaningful model. • True 3D models giving a definition of the palaeotopography • Age dating & sedimentology expertise • Maintain biostratigraphy expertise • Norway has few consultant firms offering sedimentology or biostratigraphic expertise compared to UK/USA.

Sedimentology & Stratigraphy:Future Focus • Calibration in underexplored basins: • Gathering data on stratigraphy, reservoir, source rock and thermal history in immature areas will spur research activity, and reduce exploration uncertainty. • High resolution reservoir characterization: • Integration of high resolution 3D sedimentological models into simulation will preserve detailed field heterogeneities, increase our understanding of reservoir performance and increase ultimate field recovery.

Structural Geology:Present status • In areas of poor seismic quality the interpretation of accumulations, reservoir presence and assessment of compartmentalization of the reservoirs is often difficult. • Fault seal analysis has not evolved significantly during the last decade. • Both in exploration and in field production our ability to predict fault behaviour is poor even though several commercial applications exist. • Predicting reservoir performance in fractured reservoirs (e.g. chalk) is also still a challenge in the industry.

Structural Geology:Technology Gaps • Understanding the structural evolution in complex or obscured areas is limited by the quality of seismic data. • Our focus in these areas should address the proper acquisition and processing of high-resolution seismic data. • Predicting the reservoir performance in fractured reservoirs (e.g. chalk) is also still a challenge in the industry. • Integrated interpretation of data from drilling engineering, logging and seismic is needed in order to close the gap in this area. • Improvements in seismic data volumes and interpretation tools will increase the accuracy of structural/fault interpretation and reduce drilling and prospect risk. • The integration of this high-resolution data into geomodels and simulation models remains a challenge, and advances in software handling are needed.

Structural Geology:Future Focus • Behaviour of faults and fractures on reservoir performance: • Development of an integrated tool to handle both clastic and carbonate fault seal analysis, drilling engineering, logging, and seismic data. • Fractured reservoirs, improved image log interpretation: • Derive fracture permeability from image logs by integrating mud loss information from drilling records.

Geomechanics:Present status • Geomechanics has mostly been used in a reactive mode in the industry, often in response to drilling problems in field developments. • The geomechanics software applications around drilling and wells are well established. • Sand production evaluations for optimising completion design. • The use of geomechanics in reservoir performance prediction is only rarely applied currently and is often poorly linked to the geomechanical processes over geologic time.

Geomechanics:Technology Gaps • At present there is a lack of fully integrated geomechanics software for the oil industry and the work flows/’best practices’ for interpretation are not well established. • In high pressure environments there is a higher risk that depletion will cause large changes in stress leading to drilling challenges. • In order to investigate high pressure and temperature effects the laboratories have to develop the capability to simulate the same extreme stress conditions that exist in nature.

Geomechanics:Future Focus • Integrated geomechanics ‘software/work flows’: • Make the geomechanics interpretation part of a truly integrated reservoir modelling work flow. • Develop a tool to directly measure pore pressure in shale (low permeability rock): • Improve well design by providing real, instead of predicted pressure data.

Reservoir Simulation & Modelling: • A strong Norwegian environment has developed internationally renowned reservoir building and modelling software. • Integration of different data types is continuously advancing such that oil, gas water flow rate, pressure and geological data are used together to provide a good understanding of fields. • 3D visualization of data is standard. • 4D seismic is commonly used to try and track the movement of fluids. • We collect and store large amounts of different types of data.

Reservoir Simulation & Modelling:Present status • A strong Norwegian environment has developed internationally renowned reservoir building and modelling software. • Integration of different data types is continuously advancing such that oil, gas water flow rate, pressure and geological data are used together to provide a good understanding of fields. • 3D visualization of data is standard. • 4D seismic is commonly used to try and track the movement of fluids. • We collect and store large amounts of different types of data.

Reservoir Simulation & Modelling:Present status continued • New tools that allow top quality data integration and viewing are available. • Utilise computing power. • Extract the relevant data for interpretation/integration from large data piles. • Limited ability to test alternative geological models and the impact these will have on flow characteristics.

Reservoir Simulation & Modelling: Technology Gaps-introduction • Many of the identified gaps are related to the ability to quickly integrate and visualize diverse data types together so that realistic models can be used to optimise field production. • 3D seismic • 4D seismic • Geomechanical information • Flow data • Modelling the history of oil and gas production in fields involves: • Several ‘tools’ to interpret data • Much more data is generated than can be successfully ‘integrated’ and interpreted with current systems

Reservoir Simulation & Modelling: Technology Gaps • There are no solutions that efficiently bridge the gap between different 2D and 3D applications in terms of resolution, gridding algorithms and upscaling routines. • There is a need to manage uncertainty and flexibility in the History Matching process.

Reservoir Simulation & Modelling: Technology Gaps continued • Software is not capable of providing a fully integrated Reservoir Model all the way from seismic, through geo model to flow model. • Current upscaling in Reservoir Characterization tools eliminates details from the geomodels • Enhanced Oil Recovery: tracking the movement of oil, gas and water through the field’s lifetime. • Managing large data flows quickly • Interpret and include in long term depletion strategy

Reservoir Simulation & Modelling: Future Focus • 4D seismic and life of field seismic (LoFS): • Both of these techniques are used to track the movement of oil, gas and water through time. • Research data analysis techniques that could be used to position fluids’ subsurface location and other changes in the field (e.g. compaction). • Integrated reservoir modelling and uncertainty management: • Software applications we have today, are not capable of providing a fully integrated Reservoir Model all the way from Seismic, through Geo Model to Flow Model. • We need to solve the problem of utilizing all significant data in work flows, and conduct probabilistic evaluation.

Reservoir Simulation & Modelling: Future Focus • In field heterogeneities: • Identify the key heterogeneities and develop a predictive methodology to assess the effect on reservoir performance. • Horizontal well modelling: • Solve the challenges that exist in modelling of horizontal wells and the link between horizontal production/geology and the full field model. • We continue to struggle to model horizontal wells correctly and use vertical dominated upscaling techniques.

Sedimentology & Stratigraphy: