Geology & Geophysics Applied in Industry FWS

Exercise 2: Quick Look

EXERCISE 2: A Quick-Look Evaluation

You have been asked to perform a quick back-of-the-envelope evaluation of the

blocks being offered off of Somewhereia. Is there enough potential that our
company should take a serious look.

A check of in-house and public literature reveals that a well was drilled on the
shelf, just updip from the open blocks. There is also a grid of 2D seismic lines.
Both the seismic data and some information from the well are in the company
records department. Figure 1 shows the location of the wells and available
seismic lines.

Bonanza Basin

Block Block Block

5 6 7 Block
8

Block Block Block Block

1 2 3 4

Well A-1

Somewhereia

Figure 1. Index map showing the location of the A-1 well, the 2D seismic lines,
and the open blocks.

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Geology & Geophysics Applied in Industry FWS

Exercise 2: Quick Look

The well information is sparse, from a scouting service (Figure 2). However,
there is a good nearshore sandstone that would form a high-quality reservoir. A
good marine shale lies above the sandstone. It should provide an adequate seal.
Source rocks that should be able to yield oil are present in the well, but are
immature (not buried deeply enough to start generating HCs).

The conclusion from the well information is that there is a potential reservoir,
source, and seal. The open blocks do hold promise if: (1) the source is more
deeply buried, (2) the sandstone unit extends far enough out into the basin, and
(3) the sandstones maintain good porosity further out into the basin, i.e., no
facies change and not too much lose of porosity with greater burial depth.

Well A-1

0m

250 m Marine Shale a Potential Seal

Nearshore Sandstones a Potential Reservoir
Sands contain brine No HCs
500 m

Organic-Rich Shales a Potential Source

Good HC source characteristics
750 m Immature not generating oil or gas

900 m

Figure 2. Simplified stratigraphy for the A-1 well, based on information from
scouts.

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Geology & Geophysics Applied in Industry FWS

Exercise 2: Quick Look

One of the 2D seismic lines passes near the well location. The potential source,
reservoir, and seal units extend out to the open blocks, then they are cut away by
a major erosional event in the early Tertiary. Although the units extend out into
the basin, sedimentary facies may change downdip (e.g., the sandstone may
grade into a siltstone or shale). The reservoir is also deeper and porosity
decreases with depth. On the positive side, there are some rotated fault blocks
that could provide large traps.

Potential Source

Potential Reservoir

Potential Seal

Block 2 Block 6 North

Well A-1

Tertiary

Figure 3. A 2D seismic lines that passes near the A-1 well location and NNE out
into the basin through block 2 and block 6.

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Geology & Geophysics Applied in Industry FWS

Exercise 2: Quick Look

A study done at a university provides insights into how the Bonanza Basin
formed. This study indicates that it is a divergent (pull-apart) margin with rifting
during the Late Jurassic. The A-1 well is on normal continental crust, but most of
the open acreage is on thinned continental or oceanic crust (Figure 4). This
means higher heat flow and deeper burial for the open blocks than at the A-1 well
location. This reduces the risk of an immature source rock.

Oceanic Crust

Oceanic
Crust
Thinned
Continental
Crust

Thinned Thinned
Continental Continental
Crust Crust

Continental
Continental
Crust
Crust

Figure 4. A map showing the types and distribution of crustal types in the area
of interest.

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Geology & Geophysics Applied in Industry FWS

Exercise 2: Quick Look

You perform a quick interpretation of the top of the potential reservoir unit on the
2D seismic lines. You use a simple relationship to convert from seismic time to
depth. Figure 5 shows your results (depths in kilometers). Over the open blocks,
the potential reservoir varies in depth from about 500 m to 7000 m.

7.0
6.0
4.5 3.0
5.5

2.5
5.0
2.0 4.5
5.5 3.5 4.0
5.0
1.5 3.5
4.0

1.0

0.5

Somewhereia

Figure 5. Top of the potential reservoir unit based on a quick interpretation of

the 2D seismic lines and a simple time-to-depth relationship. (NOTE:
This map is adequate for a quick-look; more careful work would be
required for prospecting).

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Geology & Geophysics Applied in Industry FWS

Exercise 2: Quick Look

You have one more trick to apply to this analysis. Using the well information,
you model how the source rock would mature as a function of depth and how the
reservoir porosity would decrease with depth. The results of this modeling are
shown in Figure 6.

Source Maturity Reservoir Porosity

Excellent
Reservoir

3400 m
D D 3500 m
Oil
E Generation E Intermediate
P P
T T
4500 m
H 4900 m H
Gas Poor
Generation Reservoir

6400 m

Figure 6. Modeling of source maturity (oil and gas generation) and reservoir
porosity as a function of depth.

You have a map to the top of the reservoir, but not one for the source. In the well
the source is 400 m deeper than the reservoir, and on the seismic these intervals
do not show much thickening or thinning.

On Figure 7, indicate using color or shading where the reservoir is expected to be

excellent, intermediate, and poor based on the model shown in Figure 6.

On Figure 8, show where you expect oil and gas generation to be occurring
based on the model shown in Figure 6. (HINT: Subtract 400 m from the depths
shown in Figure 6 to compensate for the 400 m depth difference between the
reservoir and the source intervals.)

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Geology & Geophysics Applied in Industry FWS

Exercise 2: Quick Look

7.0 6.0
4.5
3.0
5.5
2.5
5.0
2.0 4.5
5.5
4.0
5.0 3.5
1.5 3.5
4.0
1.0

0.5

Somewhereia
Figure 7. Map of reservoir quality (porosity) based on simple modeling.

Indicate on this map your preliminary estimate of reservoir quality. From Figure
6, excellent reservoir quality is expected above a depth of 3500 m. Use color,
shading, or a line pattern to indicate depths above 3500 m. Intermediate
reservoir quality is expected between 3500 m and 4500 m. Use a different color,
shading, or line pattern to indicate this depth range. Use a third color, shading,
or line pattern to indicate where poor reservoir quality is expected.

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Geology & Geophysics Applied in Industry FWS

Exercise 2: Quick Look

7.0 6.0
4.5
3.0
5.5
2.5
5.0
2.0 4.5
5.5 3.5
4.0
5.0
4.0 1.5 3.5

1.0

0.5

Somewhereia
Figure 8. Map of source maturity (oil/gas generation) based on simple modeling.

Indicate on this map your preliminary estimate of source maturity. This map is for
the top of the reservoir, but we will use it by assuming the source is always 400
m deeper. Figure 6 indicates that above 3400 m the source is immature; it does
not generate oil or gas. This area would be above 3000 m on this reservoir map
(3400 400 m). Use color, shading, or a line pattern to indicate depths above
3000 m, where the source is immature. Similarly, indicate where (1) oil and (2)
gas are being generated using different colors, shadings, or line patterns.

QUESTIONS:

1. Are there any blocks that look promising? Which ones?

2. Are there any blocks that hold very little potential? Which ones?

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Geology & Geophysics Applied in Industry FWS

Exercise 2: Quick Look